Red Sky: The Octopus' Return
by The Inimitable Enigma Cypher
Summary: What happens when a prominent scientist finds himself once again in a conspiracy, this time, one that threatens the future of the entire free world? Sequel to "A New Beginning", still AU, rated "T" for mild language/violence. Complete.
1. Insanity at 9 am

**Red Sky: The Octopus' Return**

_By Enigma Cypher_

_--_

_(A/N: This is the sequel to "A New Beginning", a story I finished a few months ago. In order to understand the events of this story, go back and read it. If you already have, then disregard this message.)_

**--**

**Chapter One**

_8:57 pm, New York City..._

It was a hot summer in New York City in 1933. It was the time when the city was alive with activity, when most of the city's classes were out for the summer, when everything was going on.

Except in the lab of Otto Octavius Inc., when the man the company was named for was fast asleep on the couch, one arm hanging off the couch, quietly snoring.

The last year had not been an easy one for Octavius. He had emigrated from Germany to continue his research, and was not prepared for the firestorm of activity that his life would become. Only 6 months ago, he was in the employ of a shady businessman named Norman Osborn, who had framed him in 2 explosions he had not committed, then left him to die in the wreckage of the second explosion. Osborn had not counted on Octavius surviving the explosion and hunting him down, even while in the clutches of radiation poisoning(which he had later recovered from), and even with the city's entire police force hunting _him _down.

Eventually Octavius had managed to clear his name and had gotten his revenge against Osborn, who was now in prison, a life sentence hanging over his head.

At this point, he was even engaged to a woman he had met in a diner, at his friend's rather, er, forceful insistence. She had proposed to him only 3 months ago. She was currently in the upper level of their apartment/laboratory in the East Village, probably reading a book on poetry.

But today, the only thing on his mind was the experiment he was still working on. He had been working on his experiment for 3 days straight, which was why he was currently out like a light on his couch.

Suddenly, he was awoken from his nap by the sound of a small explosion. Octavius sat up and looked at his apprentice, Peter Parker, who was standing there, holding the remnants of a shattered flask, his face and lab coat covered in black, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Sorry, doc, didn't mean to wake you." Parker said. "I was trying out this formula that I think would help for your reactor. Heh... guess I miscalculated."

Octavius got up and walked over to the lab bench, looking down at the notes Parker had scribbled his calculations on.

"Maybe this explains it..." Octavius said, picking up a pencil and changing a few numbers in the equation. Parker looked down at the notebook, smacked his hand to his forehead, and said, "Of course. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because..." Octavius said, "You're still learning. There are some things that even you won't know yet."

He left Parker to look over the equation as he headed upstairs to the apartment half of the building. He walked into the kitchen, made himself a cup of coffee, then headed into the living room to see what Rosie was up to.

As expected, she was sitting in the chair she liked so much, reading a book on T.S Eliot. She had once tried to explain his poetry to Octavius, who had not understood a word that Eliot was talking about.

"Still reading that book?" Octavius said, a slight smirk on his face.

Rosie looked up from her book and said, "Yes, I really have nothing else to do right now, so I figured I'd kill some time." She smiled at him and said, "So how's the experiment coming along?"

Octavius just shrugged and said, "About as well as can be expected, I suppose. I'd probably be able to think better if I could get some sleep, but I'm a little wary about leaving Parker down there working on it..."

Rosie closed the book, set it on the table, and said, "I'm pretty sure you can leave him down there and not have to worry about him setting himself on fire. He's pretty smart, you know."

"Of course he is." Octavius said, nodding in agreement. "I wouldn't have taken him in otherwise. But either way, maybe I'd better send him home for the night."

He headed back down into the lab, walked over to Parker and said, "Alright, you can go now, Peter. We'll work on this tomorrow."

Parker looked over at him and said, "Yeah, you're right. Don't want to get Aunt May all worried about where I'm at."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be a wise idea, would it?" Octavius said. "I'll see you in the morning." With that, he picked up the notebook Parker had been scribbling in, headed back upstairs and back into the room he had just left a minute earlier. Taking a seat, he began to go over the calculations that Parker had been working on. About halfway through the first page, he started nodding off. Rosie noticed this and said, "Otto, I think you should be getting to bed yourself."

Octavius shook his head and said, "Nonsense. I just need to finish this one..." here, he broke off in a yawn, "... this one small detail..."

Rosie shook her head, a half-cocked smile in her face, borne from the many nights she'd had to practically drag him into his bed.

"Come on, you're falling asleep sitting up. You'd be able to think better in the morning."

Octavius looked up at her and sighed.

"Alright, fine, I'll continue in the morning." He set the notebook on the table, got up from his chair, and walked into his bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed, and looked out the window at the full moon shining through his window, remembering the last 6 months and how hectic they had been.

He looked over at the other side of the room, where a strange 4-limbed apparatus sat on his desk. He had originally built the device to handle dangerous materials. He remembered how the device had been fused to him in the second explosion that Osborn had tried to frame him for. He had eventually found a way to get them removed, but not before earning himself the nickname of 'Doctor Octopus'... the nickname that Osborn had originally called him upon first seeing the device. He didn't much care for that name.

There was a knock on the bedroom door, and Rosie walked in, noticing the look in his face as he stared at the device.

"What are you thinking about?" Rosie asked as she sat down beside him.

It was several seconds before Octavius replied, "Just everything that's happened in the last few months. I still can't believe it all."

Rosie was silent a moment before saying, "I understand what you mean by that. I have trouble believing it myself."

The room was silent again, until Octavius said, "Well, I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Rosie nodded and left the room, as her and Octavius didn't share one.

He sat on the edge of the bed a moment more, before getting under the covers and turning off the lamp beside his bed. He laid there, staring up at the ceiling, before his consciousness gave out on him, and he fell asleep.

--

Meanwhile, in another part of town, there was a secret meeting underway; one which had the power, if the plan they had in mind carried out, had the potential to shake the world to its core...

--

_The next day, 9:37 am..._

It was a cold day for a summer morning. Octavius was taking a walk around the city, as he needed to get out of the lab for a while. 3 days was too much, even for him, and he desperately needed to just take a walk, clear his head.

He had gotten as far as 3 blocks away, before the sound of squealing tires made itself known to him. He looked back and saw a black car heading towards him.

He took off running, trying to escape from his potential captors. Something told him they didn't have the best intentions in mind.

Suddenly, a man jumped out in front of him. Octavius didn't have time to react before the man struck him in the head with what looked like a steel rod.

Octavius fell to the ground, stunned. He had enough presence of mind to put up as much of a fight as he could as 2 other men walked up, grabbed him, and threw him in the back of the car.

As the car sped up the road, Octavius tried to strike the 2 men sitting in the back with him.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME!?" He screamed, taking a swing at one of the men sitting right beside him. The man grabbed his arm and said, "Stop trying to hit me." The man had a heavy Russian accent, and had the look common of most SVR agents...

_The Russian Intelligence Service? _Octavius thought, confused. _What do they want with me?_

One of the men spoke up.

"This whole situation will be much easier on all of us if you just cooperate."

Octavius looked over at him and snarled.

"Cooperate!? You still haven't told me what you want from me!!"

With that, he took a swing at the man, only to have the man deflect the blow and grab his wrist to prevent him from trying again.

"Doctor Octavius, this is your _last_ warning. STOP hitting me."

Octavius yanked his arm away, but didn't make another attempt. He just sat back, glaring at them. The man whom Octavius had tried to hit sat staring at him the entire ride. Octavius glared back, but didn't speak.

It was several minutes before the car finally stopped. It was several minutes before the car finally stopped. The two men tied Octavius' hands behind his back before escorting him from the car, much to his annoyance.

They entered the building, walking into a room that was lit by dim red lights. One of the men said something in Russian, and the other man nodded. They opened a door and motioned for Octavius to enter.

Octavius stood there, glaring, but did not make a move towards the door.

"I'm not entering that room until you tell me what you want from me!" he snarled, taking a step towards one of them.

The man put his hand in his jacket, as if reaching for a gun.

"I insist that you get in that room before something happens."

Octavius shook his head and said, "I do not take orders from one such as you!"

The man took a step forward and said, "I'm not warning you anymore. GET IN THAT ROOM."

There was silence for a moment before Octavius snarled at the man, but walked into the room. The last thing he needed was to be attacked by one of them; they were way bigger than him, and he didn't have anything to fight them back with.

"I recommend you make yourself comfortable." The first man said. "Our leader will be along shortly. He wants to talk to you."

The man slammed the door shut, leaving Octavius in the room alone and in the dark.

_Why did they bring me here?_ He thought, infuriated. _What would they want with me, anyways?_

He stood leaning against the wall for several minutes before the door finally opened and a man walked in. He wasn't the tallest man in the world; he was shorter than even Octavius himself was.

He walked over to the light switch and turned it on, causing Octavius to howl and put his hand over his eyes.

"TURN THE DAMN LIGHT OFF! YOU'RE BLINDING ME HERE!!"

The man said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'll dim it real quick." He flicked a switch and the lights were much dimmer, enough for Octavius to open his eyes and glare at the man.

"Why did you bring me here?"

The man sat back in a chair near the wall, ignoring the question.

"Why did you yell when I flicked the lights on?" He asked, not looking up from the notepad he was scribbling on.

Octavius shook his head at the rather pointless question, but said, "If you must know, my eyes are intolerant of bright light, and your idiot lackeys knocked my sunglasses off my face in their attack."

The man nodded and said, "I do hope they weren't too rough. I told them to be easy…"

Octavius glared at him and said, "Easy!? One of them smashed me in the face with a steel rod! HOW do you call that going easy on someone!?"

Once again, the man did not answer as he continued writing. Finally, he put the pen down and said, "Well, I'll have to have those 2... dealt with, so to speak." He stood up and walked over to Octavius, untying the rope around his hands, walked over to the door and locked it, sticking the key in his pocket.

"Well, I suppose I ought to tell you why you've been brought here..."

"That would be appreciated!!" Octavius growled, glaring at him.

The man ignored the comment as he walked back to his seat, slipped the notepad in his jacket, and said, "I must first tell you that _none _of what we will discuss leaves this room. To ignore this warning will result in your death. Do you understand?"

Octavius was silent for a moment, before he nodded and said, "I understand completely. Now _what _am I here for!? And you obviously know my name-"

The man said, "Of course. You're Doctor Otto Octavius."

Octavius said, "Damnit, that's _not _my point! You know who I am, but who are you!? I want to know, if I'm to be dealing with you!"

The man shook his head and said, "I'm not permitted to tell you."

There was silence for a moment before Octavius said, "I don't have to deal with this." He walked towards the door, but as he reached for the handle, the sound of a gunshot filled the room, and the bullet struck the door only an inch from Octavius' head, blasting a fist-sized hole in the door.

Octavius turned around and said, _**"WHAT WAS ****THAT **__**FOR!?"**_

The man lowered his gun and said, "That was a warning. It would be in your best interest to sit down and listen to what I have to say."

Octavius shook his head, but didn't make another move for the door handle. He leaned against the wall and said, "Then start talking. You're wasting my time here."

The man was silent for a moment, but finally, he said, "I had you brought here because I am in need of your expertise. You're the world's leading authority on atomics. I could use your insight for a project of mine."

Octavius thought on this, and said, "What, exactly, is the project of which you speak?"

The man said, "Again, that information is classified. It will be revealed to you on a need-to-know basis."

Octavius snarled, "I don't work on any project without knowing what it will be used for. I've already been double-crossed once because I made the mistake of working on a classified project. If you want my cooperation, you'll have to tell me everything now!"

The man said, "I'm sorry, but that is impossible."

Octavius glared at the man for a moment, before realization dawned and he realized exactly why he had been brought here...

"You want to be the first to develop a weapon. You want the first atomic bomb."

The man nodded and said, "Yes, that's pretty much it."

"There's no way I'm helping with that!" Octavius shouted, walking towards the man. "You think I'm going to be your key to developing the most powerful weapon the world has ever seen? You've got another thing coming!"

The man raised his gun again and said, "It wasn't an agreement. You will help with this project, or-"

"OR NOTHING!!" Octavius shouted as he smacked the gun from his hand, then ran for the door, throwing his weight against it and flinging it open. He ran down the corridor, hearing the man shouting "CAPTURE HIM! HE MUST NOT ESCAPE!!"

But by the time enough men got it together to go after him, Octavius had already escaped the complex and was a few blocks away. Looking behind himself often to make sure no one was following him, he eventually ducked into a side street to catch his breath and think on what had just happened.

_They want to develop a bomb... what are they planning!? _He thought, bewildered._ And why did they come after just me? There's got to be something bigger involved here..._

He shook his head and walked out of the side street, heading back towards his lab. He didn't know what to do about the situation that had occurred, but he at least wanted to know what they were up to...

_-To be continued..._


	2. Enter: The Lizard

**Chapter Two**

_7:43 pm, later that day..._

By this time, Octavius had mostly put the incident that morning out of his head, as he had other concerns that were more deserving of his attention; namely, the work he was doing on his experiment. He sat at his desk, once again going over the calculations that Parker had shown him.

_I have to admit, his idea looks like it may work, _he thought as he closed the notebook and stood up, heading upstairs to get something to eat. He walked by the living room, noticing that Rosie was on the phone. He thought nothing of it...

...until she ran up to him a few minutes later and said, in a tone of voice that clearly implied that something was _definitely not _right:

"Otto, there's been an accident at Curt's lab. You need to go to Midtown General right now."

Octavius stood there a minute, too stunned to speak. His mind flashed back to the day of his own horrific lab accident, and how that nearly turned out...

"What about you?" he asked, wondering why she said that just he was supposed to go.

Rosie shook her head and said, "They want just you to show up. They apparently don't want too many people knowing the specifics of what happened. I wouldn't be allowed in."

_Why would they want to keep this a secret? _he thought, confused.

"I'll be back." he said, heading for the door...

--

_20 minutes later, Midtown General Hospital..._

When Octavius showed up at Midtown, the entire floor was on fire with activity. There were cops, various staff of the hospital, and some people that their purpose there was unknown.

Octavius walked towards one of the doctors that was standing outside what was apparently Curt's room, arguing with one of the cops. He could hear the doctor saying, "I _don't_ care who he used to be, he's the only person who can figure this out!!" He didn't hear the cop's reply, but he was pretty sure he knew who they were talking about.

When the doctor saw him, he motioned for him to come over, and the cop stomped away, shaking his head.

When Octavius got to where the doctor was standing, he asked, "Why have I been brought here?"

The doctor said, "Quite simply, you're the only person anyone can think of who may know what Connors was working on that may have caused his condition."

_So they __**were **__talking about me... _Octavius thought before he realized what the doctor said. "Hold it. What 'condition' are you talking about?"

The doctor scratched the back of his neck and said, "It's odd... I've never seen anything like it before. I don't think _anyone_ has."

Octavius was getting impatient, so he said, "Just get on with it. _What _is wrong with him?"

"I think you'd better see this for yourself." the doctor said, looking him in the eyes before opening the door. Octavius walked in and got his first good look at his friend...

...at least, he was pretty sure it was Curt...

The man, if you could call him that, was lying in bed, still unconscious. His skin was green, and also, Octavius noted to his horror, had taken on the look of scales, such as you would find on a lizard... his eyes, which were open, were a bright red. His hands had morphed into what looked like large claws...

...not to mention the lizard's tail hanging off the edge of the bed...

It was a frightening sight.

Octavius looked at him again.

"Dear God... he said, as a sudden wave of dizziness overtook him, and he had to put his hand on the doorframe to steady himself. He left the room and shut the door, leaning against it. He couldn't bear to look at what had become of his best friend.

"_How _could something like this happen!?"

The doctor shrugged and said, "That's the question we're hoping you'll be able to answer. Do you know of anything that might have caused this?"

Octavius thought for a moment before responding, "He was working on an experiment to regenerate human limbs after they've been lost, in war for example. He was using reptile DNA..." the answer suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks.

"My God... I think he tried it on himself."

The doctor looked at him oddly and asked, "Why would he do that?"

"He was missing his right arm." Octavius told him. "I think that, instead of finding a suitable test subject, he decided to try it on himself, and..." he fell silent for a moment as he thought about it, "... it may have interfered with his DNA, causing this."

"Any idea why?"

"I haven't the slightest idea." Octavius replied. "I'm an atomic scientist, not a biologist. I don't know the specifics of why this could have happened."

They were both silent a moment before the doctor said, "Well, thank you for your insight. We'll call if there's any change in his condition. And I must ask that you do not speak a word of this to anybody. We don't want any word of this getting out to the general public."

Octavius nodded and walked towards the exit.

_There's no other explanation for it, _he thought as he left the building. _He has to have tested his experiment on himself. But why would he do something like that? It could have killed him! _

He shook the thought from his head and started walking home. There was really nothing he could do at the moment but wait to see what happens...

--

When he got home, Rosie was pacing the floor restlessly. When she saw him enter, she ran up to him and said, "How is he? What happened to him?"

The room was silent a moment, before Octavius said, "Well, we're not exactly sure if this is what happened, but we think... well, Curt was working on an experiment to regenerate human limbs using reptile DNA. I think that he tried it on himself. He... he's a giant lizard. I know it sounds insane, but when I saw him, he looked like a huge lizard in the shape of a man."

Rosie shook her head and said, "How could something like this happen? Why would he test it on himself?"

"I really don't know." Octavius said. "The only explanation I can come up with is that he didn't want to wait to find a suitable test subject, so he decided to use himself as the subject. But _he's_ the biologist, I don't know why he didn't foresee the possible consequences of what he did. It could have killed him. And then what? He'd never find out what became of his findings, so it wouldn't matter anyways."

"Not to mention he's got a wife at home that he would have left behind." Rosie said sadly. "Not to mention, me and you, especially you, would miss him if he died."

"I most certainly would." Octavius said, taking a seat in his desk chair. "He's become a good friend of mine over the last year. When he recovers, I'll have to ask him why he would ever have decided to go through with it. I mean, I'm quite the dedicated scientist myself, but I _never _would have tested my experiment, especially one such as his, on myself; there's too many unknown factors involved."

"Curt always seemed the patient type." Rosie said, looking at the picture of Curt and Octavius that she had taken one day. She remembered that day; a foot of snow had fallen on the city. Octavius, Curt, and she had been taking a walk around the city. Curt had picked up a ball of snow and, when Octavius wasn't looking, threw it at the back of his head. Octavius turned around, and Rosie thought he was mad. Instead, Octavius picked up a snowball of his own and had thrown it at Curt in retaliation. The picture was of the two standing there, snow all over themselves. Rosie didn't think Otto had actually kept it. "I don't understand why he'd take an unnecessary risk like that."

"That's what I'm going to ask him." Octavius said, getting up from his chair and walking towards the upstairs half of the building. "Tomorrow I'll go and see how he's doing. If he's awake, I'll ask him. Right now I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Rosie nodded and took another look at the picture, a sad expression on her face.

"Curt, _why_ would you do something like this?"

--

_The next day, Midtown General, 10:03 am ..._

"Excuse me? I'm here to see someone?"

It was the next day. Octavius was already over at Midtown, trying to get in to see what condition his friend was in.

The receptionist looked at him and said, "And who might this someone be?"

"His name is Curt Connors. He was admitted last night." Octavius said, leaning against the counter, trying to stay awake. He had not slept very well last night; concern for his friend had kept him awake.

The receptionist looked at Curt's file and said, "Sorry sir, but no one is allowed to go up to his room."

"What do you mean, no one!?" Octavius said, surprised. "I was here just last night!"

"I'm sorry, I'm just telling you what his file says." she said, somewhat apologetic. "If you want, I can find the doctor in charge, and he can tell you what you need to know."

Octavius shook his head and said, "Then get him down here. I know he'd let me up there."

"I highly doubt that, mister." The receptionist said, shaking her head. She checked her watch and said, "I'll be back in 10 minutes; I'm on break."

"When you get back, I want you to get him down here." Octavius said, his hand to his face. "And for future reference, I'm _Doctor_ Octavius. Not mister." He shook his head and watched the receptionist walk away. When he was sure she was gone, he casually walked up to the receptionist's desk, checked Curt's file to find his room number, and walked down the hall towards his room.

When he got there, he was stunned to see that Curt was no longer the lizard-beast he had been last night. He was fully human again, sitting up in bed, reading that day's newspaper. He saw Octavius enter, put his paper on the table and said, "Hey, Otto! I didn't expect you here."

"Hello yourself, Curt." Octavius said, taking a seat beside him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine now." Curt said. "I woke up this morning and it's like nothing had ever happened. I don't know how I reverted back to normal, but I'd like to find out."

"So would I." Octavius said. "But let's not talk about that right now. I've got so many questions, but they can wait until later. Right now, I'm just glad you're alright."

Curt nodded and said, "Yeah, so am I. I'm not sure when I'll be getting out, though. And I don't intend on jumping out a window to escape, like _someone_ I know." He looked over at Octavius with a cocky smirk, referring to the day that Octavius had been in his situation, and had jumped out of a second-story window to escape.

"Hey, you weren't wanted in a criminal investigation, like I was." Octavius said, cocking an eyebrow, a half-cocked smile on his face. "You have no reason to escape. And you were part-lizard. You escaping at this point would be considered psychotic."

"This coming from the man who nearly died of radiation poisoning, four mechanical tentacles fused to his body." Curt teased, that same smirk still on his face. "But yeah, I have no reason to try and escape. Besides…" here, he leaned back in his bed, his hand behind his head, "…I kind of like being waited on."

"I can see that." Octavius said, picking up the newspaper that Curt had been reading when he walked in.

Curt noticed and said, "Look at this bunk. They wrote an article on my little 'lizard-man' incident. Grossly exaggerated, if you ask me."

"That's because it's the Bugle." Octavius said, throwing the paper back down on the table. "They wrote one about me, as well, back when they were still calling me 'Doctor Octopus.' They couldn't even spell my last name right. I think I still have that paper somewhere. But they do have a reputation for making up their own facts. I wouldn't trust anything that fool Jameson writes."

"I don't, trust me." Curt said. "The only reason I even read it is because the doctor brought it in. I find it entertaining. It's fiction based on real life."

"That's what I think, as well." Octavius said, nodding in agreement. "Maybe he should have become an author. At least then he'd be have a reason for making up his own stories." Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall, and Octavius said, "Well, I've got to go. I'm not exactly supposed to be up here, you know."

"Ha, alright then." Curt said, laughing. "I'll see you later. When I get out of here, I'll explain what exactly happened with my experiment."

"I'll be waiting, then." Octavius said as he walked out of the room and down the hallway before anyone found him up here. He made his way out of the building and started back towards his lab. He kept a close eye out for any potential SVR agents who decided to try and recapture him. This time, however, he was not unarmed; he was wearing the four-limbed apparatus that he had built, the device that was his namesake. He had kept it hidden under his black trenchcoat; there was no need to draw attention to himself. But he wasn't taking any chances this time. Fortunately, he made it back without incident.

When he walked in, Rosie was sitting on the couch, still reading that book on T.S Eliot.

When she saw him come in, she said, "Good morning. Did you find out anything?"

"Yes, I did." Octavius said. "But not about the experiment. He's awake now, back to normal. We talked for a bit. He said he doesn't know when they'll let him out, though."

"Well, at least he's alright." Rosie said, a smile on her face. She remembered the time when Octavius had gone missing after his own lab accident; Curt had gone all over the city trying to find any trace of where he might be hiding. She had grown to like him as a friend over that time. "He didn't give you any clue of what happened?"

"No, and I didn't ask." he said, taking a seat beside her. He looked at the page she was on.

"You know, I never quite understood what he was talking about in his poems." he said, a half-cocked smile on his face.

"Well, I tried explaining it to you." she said, a similar smile on her own face. "You looked at me and said he was harder to understand than advanced science."

"No, I'm pretty sure that was Shakespeare I said that about." he said, shaking his head. "I said that I wasn't sure whether or not Eliot was dropped on his head as a child, and that explains why he's so confusing in his poetry."

"Yeah, I remember that now." she said, laughing. "One of these days I'll get you to understand."

"I highly doubt that." Octavius said. "I don't think he even understood what he was talking about."

At this, Rosie rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep the grin off her face.

"I still remember you trying to teach me about the theory of relativity." she said, thinking back on that day. "Now he's one man I'll never understand.

"Well, I can tell you that Einstein's a lot easier than Eliot is to comprehend." he said, putting his arm around her shoulder. "But hey, I'm just the scientist, and I don't feel like going into that discussion right now."

"Neither do I..." she said, looking into his eyes.

Octavius looked at her and said, "Well, I'm getting rather bored. Any ideas?"

"I might have one..." she said as she pulled him closer and pressed her lips to his. She remembers how the first time she kissed him, he pulled away, startled by the first contact. Now, he contented himself with kissing her back. He had fallen madly in love with her since that day. And now, with everything that had happened in the last few days, he probably needed it. He had never had a relationship before he met her. She knew that he usually didn't allow himself to grow close to anyone. He told her how he had been hurt before because of a relationship, and it wasn't even a romantic one. He didn't know the first thing about love back then. Now, he had to admit, he couldn't live without her. She knew this to be true because of the way he'd kiss her, like he never wanted to let go.

When they finally separated, Rosie said, "You looked like you needed that."

"I suppose I did." Octavius said, his hand still on her shoulder. "You feel like going out to lunch?"

"Of course." Rosie said, a smile on her face. "We haven't done that in a while."

They left the building, walking down the streets. They didn't talk much on the way there. At the moment, they were just happy to be in each other's company. Neither of them had any idea about the events that would soon be taking place, and which had the power to change both of their lives forever...

_-To be continued..._

_--_

_A/N : Well, here it is: Chapter Two, which honestly should have been posted weeks ago. I said on Sunday I'd post this chapter, and I was as good as my word. So Terrible-Doll, if you're reading this, I told you I'd post it. And you need to get an account on here, too._

_BTW, if __**anyone**__ says a word about my lame romantic scene, I'll kick your butt. It took me 10 minutes to write that. _

_-The Inimitable Enigma Cypher_


	3. The Octopus Returns

**Chapter Three**

_11:53, the next day..._

It was the next day. By this time, Curt had been released from Midtown and advised to try and take it easy. But he had a hard time even getting out of the building, as the outside of the building was surrounded with reporters trying to get a comment out of him. In the end, Octavius wound up having to come and get Curt through the crowd, because they refused to move. They hailed a taxi and got out of there before the reporters decided to chase them down.

When they got to Octavius' lab, Curt began to explain what exactly had happened.

"Well, I finished the serum the other night." he started. "I had tested it on rabbits first, and it seemed to work. It was clearly ready for human testing, so..."

"But why did you test it on _yourself?" _Octavius asked, sitting backwards in his desk chair. "I mean, couldn't you have found someone to be your test subject?"

"I didn't have time." Curt said. "The university was threatening to yank my funding unless I had a successful human trial within the next week. I didn't have the time, is all. I didn't foresee that it would turn me into a giant lizard-beast, otherwise I still wouldn't have done it."

"That explains it." Octavius said, nodding as if that confirmed a suspicion. "I thought it might be something like that. Rosie said she thought of you as the patient type. I was thinking the same thing. I didn't think you'd do something like that unless you had to."

"Of course not. I was simply desperate, is all." Curt said, looking down at the floor. "Of course, it's not like it matters now. I know the higher-ups at ESU have gotten word of the failure. There's no way I'll be able to continue my experiment now. Not with such a failure as this."

"Well, if they have a problem with it, I'll give them a piece of my mind." Octavius said. "I don't think they'd refuse what _I_ have to say."

"Probably not." Curt agreed. "I mean, them turning down what _you _have to say would be probably the biggest mistake they've ever made. You're one of the world's most prominent scientists. I think they would definitely be inclined to listen."

"There are some advantages to fame." Octavius said, nodding. "And if they don't listen, I'll fund your experiment myself. See what they have to make of that."

"Seriously?" Curt said.

"I'm dead serious." Octavius said. "You're my friend, after all. And who am I to interfere with scientific progress?"

Curt could only smile as he said, "Thanks. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"It's no problem." Octavius said.

Curt nodded and said, "And I think we'd probably be better off keeping the specifics to ourselves about what really happened. I mean, I'd rather not have those blasted reporters pounding on my door, hounding me about it."

"I was thinking the same thing." Octavius said. "We speak of this to no one."

Just then, there was a knock on the lab door, and Rosie asked, sounding amused, "Do you two brainiacs want something to eat or what? Lunch has been done for the last half-hour."

"We'll be right up." Octavius said, getting up out of his chair. He walked towards the door, then looked back at Curt, who was still leaning against the desk.

"Are you coming?"

"Oh, yes." Curt said, nodding. "I was just lost in thought for a moment. I just got the odd feeling that something's going to happen... I don't know why."

"We'll talk about that later." Octavius said, opening the door and starting up the stairs, Curt following behind. Truth be told, Octavius had the same thought in his head. Maybe it was just paranoia over the last few days, or maybe it was something else entirely...

--

_3:32 pm, the NYC headquarters of the SVR..._

The men in charge of the operation going on at the H.Q were still plotting a way to 'convince' Octavius to build them an atomic bomb. They had been going over ideas since the day after his escape.

Right now, the man in charge was sitting at his desk, talking to one of his agents about the plan he had in mind.

"I believe I have an idea about how to force his cooperation." the boss said, taking a drink of his martini and fidgeting with a pencil on his desk.

"And what might that be, sir?" the agent said, standing at attention.

"Well, quite simply, when we first had him here, we threatened him with his own life." the boss said. "I don't know what I was thinking. I have another idea entirely. One which, if it works correctly, will convince him that this is something he has to do."

"Well, what is the idea, then?" the agent said, getting rather impatient, but not letting it show.

"Quite simply, we threaten him with the life of someone he's rather close to." the boss said, pacing behind his desk now. "As a friend of mine once said, the cunning warrior attacks neither body nor mind."

"I understand completely." the agent said. "For the most effective method, they attack the heart."

"Precisely." the boss said. "You're learning."

"I try." the agent said. "Any particular person you had in mind?"

"I have some idea..." the boss said, a wicked smile on his face as he walked towards the filing cabinet behind his desk. He pulled out a picture of a brown-haired, grey-eyed, exotic-looking woman. Throwing it on the desk, he said, "This is your target. I want you to capture her and bring her here. If he wants her back, he'll have to cooperate."

"When do you want me to strike?"

The boss sat back down and put his feet on the desk. Finishing his drink, he said, "Tonight. Bring her here. And if the good Doctor gives you any resistance, which is very likely, convince him otherwise. Do _not _use lethal force if he fights back. Otherwise, the plan is for naught."

The agent nodded, and the boss said, "You're dismissed."

The agent left the room, and the boss looked back at the picture.

_I tried playing fair with you, Octavius... _he thought._ But now you have forced me to do things the hard way..._

_--_

_9:21 pm, back at Octavius' lab..._

By this time, Octavius was sitting at his desk, drawing out a new set of schematics to rebuild the reactor. His original schematics had been lost during the whole incident with Osborn half a year ago. Fortunately, Octavius could remember exactly what they were supposed to be. The fact that he had an eidetic memory had little to do with it; he had been working on this experiment since he was about 20. He knew it inside and out. Still, it was nice to have something to refer to when it comes time to put it together.

A knock at the lab door brought him back to reality.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." Rosie said. "Just thought you'd like to know."

"Thanks, I'll remember that." Octavius said as he stood up and walked over to the window. He looked up at the night sky, with not very many stars in the sky; it being New York, the light covered most of them up.

_Kind of a shame... _he thought._ They're more interesting to look at than anything else in this forsaken city._

Just then, he thought he saw something run past the window. He looked in the direction he thought he saw it run, then waved it off.

_It was probably nothing... at least, I hope it was nothing..._

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass filled the air. It was coming from upstairs, and it didn't sound like Rosie dropping a plate in the kitchen.

No, this sounded more like a window, or 3, being broken all at the same time.

Octavius ran for the stairs, his lab coat trailing behind him like a cape. He reached the upper floor to find four or five men standing there, all in the SVR uniform that his own captors had worn. All of them were armed.

And the leader had a hold on Rosie.

Octavius charged towards the leader, shouting, _**"LET HER GO!!"**_

The leader simply looked at him and smirked.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he said, making a motion with his hand. Two men that were standing by the door grabbed hold of Octavius to hold him back, keep him from attacking.

This, of course, did _not _go over well. Octavius tried to thrash his way free of their grip, but they were stronger than he was.

The leader leaned against the wall, not releasing his grip on Rosie's arm, and said, "It's really no use trying to escape, Doctor. These men are some of the strongest we've got on the force. Something told us we'd get a little resistance from you."

Octavius glared at the leader and said, "What do you want from me!? I already said I _wasn't_ going to build an atomic bomb for another country! Why won't you just leave me alone!?"

"I believe our boss already answered this." the leader said impatiently.

The room was silent a moment before Octavius asked, "Why did it have to be _me_? Why couldn't you have asked Bohr? Or Oppenheimer? Surely they know more about weaponizing the atom than I do!" This, of course, was not entirely true; Octavius himself was already known to be the leading atomic scientist in the field nowadays, but there was no need to tell _them _that.

"We couldn't find them." the leader said. "Your location was already known to us."

"And her?" Octavius said, looking at Rosie. "What do you want her for?"

"She's leverage, my good Doctor." the leader said, a cruel smirk on his face. "She's going to be your incentive for finishing this project for us."

Octavius looked at the leader, completely stunned.

"Y-You can't do this!!" he managed to say, shaking his head.

"On the contrary, I can do whatever I feel is necessary to protect the safety of my country." the leader said, a hard scowl on his face. "If this includes blackmailing a prominent scientist with the life of him and his fiancée, so be it."

"And if I refuse?"

The leader sighed audibly, shaking his head.

"I was hoping it didn't have to come to this..."

He snapped his fingers, and the man standing beside him walked up to Octavius and, without warning, reared back his fist and punched him, right below the ribs. Octavius fell to the floor, gasping for breath, glaring up at his attacker. The thug merely smirked and reared back his foot to kick him, but Rosie's terrified scream cut him short.

"Please, stop! _Leave him alone!"_ she shouted, tears in her eyes. "You've hurt him enough! Can't you see he's _not _going to fight back!?"

The leader said, "Yes, I suppose you're right..."

He snapped again, and the thug stepped back.

The leader took a step forward and said, "That was merely a warning, Doctor. Now, I'll give you one week to decide. If I do not get an answer..." here, he looked at Rosie with a cold gleam in his eyes, "...you'll get your fiancée back, in pieces! Is this understood?"

Octavius was still trying to catch his breath, but he nodded in the affirmative.

"Good. Glad we could have this little discussion."

With that, him and the other 3 agents ran out of the building, Rosie in tow, kicking and screaming.

Octavius laid there a moment more before hauling himself to his feet and stumbling to the phone. Picking it up, he dialed Curt's number...

--

Curt was already asleep when the phone beside his bed rang. He growled and picked it up, expecting to hear a call from some snoopy reporter about him and his 'Lizard-man' incident. He had gotten several calls like it today.

Hence, he was taken by surprise when it turned out to be Otto Octavius on the other line.

"You know, Otto, you have _really bad_ timing when it comes to things like this." Curt said, a small smile on his face.

"Curt, I need you to come over here right now." Octavius replied. Curt couldn't help but notice how shaken his friend sounded, and he asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's Rosie. She's been abducted." Octavius said, pacing the floor, running a hand through his hair, frustrated. "The SVR has her, and they're threatening to kill both me and her if I don't agree to build them an atomic bomb."

At this, Curt was thunderstruck.

"They've given me a week to give them my word that I'll do it. Problem is, I'm _not _going to to do it! I don't know what to do!!"

Curt knew it would be a cold day in hell when Otto Octavius himself had no idea what to do in a situation, much less admit it to anyone.

Of course, he did _not _say this aloud.

"I'll be right over." Click.

--

10 minutes later, Curt was pacing the floor in Octavius' laboratory, listening to a recap of the situation.

"Why did they come after you, though?" Curt asked. "I mean, aren't there people over there they could 'convince'?"

"That's what I asked them." Octavius replied, shaking his head. "They didn't answer."

"Apparently there are a lot of things they'll do to get what they want..." Curt said, still unable to believe what happened. "Did they give you any indication of what their true motives might be?"

"I don't know, Curt!" Octavius said, somewhat exasperated. "They were only here a few minutes!"

The two were silent a moment before Octavius said, "We have to get her back. I'm not going to build them their superweapon, but I'm not going to let them kill her, either."

Curt thought on this before saying, "Wait, just the two of us!?"

"It has to be just us." Octavius replied. "If we get the FBI involved, they'll kill her as soon as they find out. It's the same with the CIA or any other law enforcement. If it's just the two of us, acting alone, they'll never know that someone's out to break them until it's too late."

"But they're part of the Russian government!" Curt yelped. "Even our own government would consider our standing against them an act of terrorism!"

"Not if we can prove what they've done!" Octavius shot back. "Abduction and assault is _not _a normal part of a simple request for help, Curt! You should know that!"

"But how can we oppose the entire SVR!?" Curt asked, still not convinced. "We're just two lone scientists, up against the government of the largest country in the world!"

"We're two lone scientists with extraordinary intelligence and extraordinary power." Octavius said. "That is, if you're willing to bring back the Lizard. I know I said we wouldn't, but we may not have a choice... have you learned to control it?"

Curt thought for a moment before responding, "Yes, I've learned to control it... but what about you?"

"Don't worry, I've got that taken care of." Octavius stated, getting out of his chair. "We should leave as soon as possible. For one, we'll need all the time we can get to find her, and two, I _don't_ need them to change their minds and come back to kill me for knowing too much."

Curt nodded in agreement before saying, "Would seeing my transformation bother you?"

Octavius looked over at Curt and said, "Of course not. If anything, I'd consider it a simple demonstration."

Curt said, "Well, alright..."

He knelt down, closed his eyes, and concentrated furiously in an attempt to transform himself. Eventually, his skin began to turn green and scaly, a tail began to develop, and his hands turned into claws, much like his initial transformation. When it was all over, all of him was transformed except for his head; he had figured out that if he kept his head untransformed, he could keep control of the Lizard, instead of it controlling him.

"HA! I did it!" Curt shouted triumphantly as he stood up and opened his now-red eyes, the only part of his face that was transformed. He looked over at Octavius, who was now wearing both his black trenchcoat and the four-limbed device he had built. The mechanical arms were writhing in the air behind him, as if they had a mind of their own.

"I told you I had it taken care of." He said, a cocky look on his face.

"I do believe it's time for Doctor Octopus to make his presence known to the SVR." he said as he slipped his sunglasses on his face, the cocky look replaced by one of barely contained fury, one that gave even Curt a sudden chill. "Let them know what kind of hell there is to pay."

Curt nodded, but did not say anything.

_-To be continued..._

_--_

_A/N: Just for the record, when I write this story, I have __**nothing **__against the Russians. This story is set back when the study of atomics was reaching its peak, and they seemed to be behind both the US and Germany when it came to developing a weapon. The observant reader will notice that yes, the race for the atomic bomb in real life was actually about 10 years after this story was set. Me being the future scientist that I am, I tried keeping it accurate. I really did. So don't say a word. _

_-The Inimitable Enigma Cypher_


	4. Out of NYC

**Chapter Four**

_11:08 pm, SVR headquarters_

For most of the people who worked at the (secret) NYC branch of the SVR, it was a typical night. Most of the

people who worked there were about to call it a night. Most were rather surprised that not much had happened; their job was usually filled with things that needed to be done. Tonight, it was rather dull.

But that state of being was about to be shattered.

Without warning, the south wall of the building's main room exploded inwards. People ran for cover as two men stormed into the building. The man at the front desk tried to warn his boss that they were under attack.

He did not get the chance, as a man who looked more lizard than human pounced on him and punched him in the head, knocking him unconscious. Meanwhile, the building's security forces were trying, unsuccessfully, to subdue the other man, who was armed with four mechanical tentacles, and who did not appear as if he had _any _patience with the men who were trying to take him down. He grabbed one of them, using him as a missile against another bunch of guards.

"I do _not _have time to deal with you people!" the tentacled man shouted as he finished the last of the guards trying to take him down. "WHERE is your leader!? I want to have a word with him!!"

A few of the guards (the few that were still conscious) all pointed down a long corridor. The tentacled man nodded and said, "Curt, hold off anyone that may go after me! I'm going after the leader!" With that, he took off down the corridor, the rage he felt at the entire situation burning inside him as he approached the leader's office...

--

Meanwhile, the man who had "spoken" to Octavius only 2 days earlier was in his office, his pistol sitting on his desk in case the two men tearing apart his headquarters decided to come after him.

_Who are they? What do they want with us?_ he thought.

No sooner did the thought cross his mind did his door explode inward in a hail of debris, and a man entered the room. He had a frightening look about him; clad in a black trenchcoat and sunglasses, with 4 mechanical tentacle-like arms writhing around in the air behind him. But the truly frightening thing about him was the look on his face as he snatched the man out of his chair with one of the tentacles, holding him up in the air.

_"Where is she!?" _the tentacled figure said, in a tone of voice that clearly implied that he was _not _in the mood to deal with any nonsense. "Where is the woman you abducted earlier tonight!?"

The man looked down at the tentacled man and asked, now frightened, "W-Who are you?"

To his surprise, the man removed his sunglasses and said, "I do believe we've met."

At this revelation, the man was astounded.

"No, it can't be... Octavius!?"

_**"THAT'S DOCTOR OCTOPUS TO YOU!!" **_he roared, throwing the man across the room. The man hit the wall with a resounding thud, leaving a crater in the drywall_**.**_ He fell to the ground, holding his arm.

"Y-You broke my arm..." he moaned, looking up at Octavius.

"If you don't tell me where she is..." Octavius growled, walking towards him, "...I'll break more than just your arm. Now, where is she!?"

The man glared up at him defiantly.

"I wouldn't tell you, even if I-"

He was cut off in mid-sentence as Octavius snatched him up with an actuator and threw him across the room.

_"MUST I ASK AGAIN!?"_

The man laid there for a moment before saying, "T-This show of force gains you nothing!!"

At that, Octavius snarled, "It will get me back the person you had no right to take from me!" He walked up to the man and snatched him up by his broken arm, twisting it behind him. The man howled in pain, and Octavius shouted_, "WHERE IS MY FIANCE!?"_

"Moscow!!" the man shouted. "She's on her way to Moscow! The plane carrying her took off an hour ago!!"

"Why the hell is she being taken to Moscow!?" Octavius shouted as he yanked the man to his feet by his arm.

The man yelped at the flash of pain that tore through his arm, but said, "To keep you from getting her back before you cooperate, or until they kill her and go after you!"

"Oh really!? And how might I go about finding where they're keeping her?"

"I-I don't know!!" the man stammered, completely terrified. "I'm only a cog in a much bigger machine! I'm not even one of the leaders of the organization! I don't know much of anything that goes on!!"

"I know you're lying." Octavius said as a blade popped out of the upper right tentacle. He put the blade up to the man's neck and said, "Now then. Where would I go to get her back!?"

"Oh God, please! Don't do this to me!" the man shrieked, trying to fight his way out of the death grip on his arm.

Octavius backhanded him across the face and said, "This is your _last warning!! _TELL ME!!"

"Alright!!" the man said, giving in. "In order to find the H.Q in Moscow, you have to go to the capitol building. They have a file on where the headquarters is located. I've never been to the H.Q, or I'd tell you where it was located. This is the best I can do."

"Thank you." Octavius said, releasing the man and lifting him up by the collar of his shirt.

"And if you tell anyone of who I am, I will hunt you down. No one shall know of this. Not the police, and not whomever you're working for. I will _not _hesitate to kill you. Understand!?"

The man nodded, thoroughly terrified.

"Good."

With that, Octavius whacked the man in the head with a tentacle, knocking him out.

He ran into the hall and met up with Curt.

"Did you get any information out of him?" Curt asked as they ran for the door.

"Yes. They've taken her to Moscow." Octavius said as they left the remains of the building, neither of them noticing the man lying on the ground, phone in hand...

--

At this point, the work day for the officers who worked at Precinct 92 was winding down as well. There were always officers at the station; in New York, the city's criminal element was always at work.

Among the officers getting ready to call it a night was Police Captain George Stacy. He was just getting ready to leave, when the phone on his desk rang.

He picked it up and said, "NYPD, Captain Stacy speaking... yes... an attack on your building... did you see who- wait, what did you say he looked like?... wait, one of them looked half-_lizard_? Did I hear you correctly? Yes... and the other... oh my God... yes, I know who you're talking about. We'll catch them. Thanks for the information; I'll call if I find out anything." He hung up and put his hand to his head, mumbling, "What _is _it with that man?"

It was then that a female officer by the name of Jean DeWolff walked into the room.

"Captain? What was that all about?"

Capt. Stacy looked up at her and said, "Two paranormals destroying someone's establishment."

"Any idea who they might be, sir?" DeWolff asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Well, one of them, according to what my informant saw, was part-lizard. I haven't the slightest idea who that could be. But the second man involved, I'm certain of, is a Doctor Otto Octavius."

"Wait... didn't you deal with him a few months ago?"

"Yes..." Capt. Stacy said, shaking his head. "I don't know what it is with him. He seems to get wrapped up in all the big situations as of lately. I want a warrant out for both of them. As soon as I I.D our lizard-man, we'll put a warrant out for him."

DeWolff nodded and left the room.

Capt. Stacy sat there a moment, his hand to his face.

_What __**is **__it with you, Octavius? _he thought, somewhat confounded._ Why does all this seem to happen to __**you?**_

_**--**_

_11:43 pm, back at the lab..._

"So, any idea how to get to Moscow?" Octavius said, sitting backwards in his desk chair, leaning against the back of it.

"I'm trying to think of something." Curt said, leaning against the desk. "I was thinking maybe we hijack a small aircraft and fly over."

"Do you even know how to fly an airplane?" Octavius asked, looking up at Curt oddly.

"Actually, I flew a few missions in WWI." Curt replied. "It's been a while, but I can still do it, for the most part..."

"What do you mean, for the most part?"

"Well..." Curt said, "...there's still the matter of me only having one arm to fly. I won't fit in the airplane in my lizard-form, so I'd have to revert to my human form... we could put you in the pilot's seat-"

"Wait a minute!" Octavius said, looking back up at Curt. "I've never flown an airplane! I'd bring us down in the middle of the Atlantic!"

"Well, I can't fly with only one hand!" Curt said, exasperated. "I could give you the instructions as we go. That's the only way we're getting to Moscow in the next week!"

They were both silent for a moment, before Octavius said, "Fine. But if we crash, I'm blaming it on you."

"If we crash, we'll both be dead." Curt said.

Octavius put his hand to his head and said, "That's really reassuring, Curt. Thanks."

"Sorry." Curt said, a small smile playing on his face. "I'm just saying, we'll have to be careful."

Octavius would have replied to that, but then he noticed something dart past the window.

"Curt, there's someone out there." He said, getting up from his chair and getting ready to walk towards the door.

But that's when whoever was out there started pounding on the door.

"This is the police! I know you two are in there!"

"Shit!" Curt said, looking at Octavius. "That's the only way out, isn't it?"

"It's the only door in and out of the lab." Octavius said, looking for another way out.

"Otto Octavius, I know you're in there! This is Captain Stacy! Open this door!"

"Come in here and get me!" Octavius shouted, running for the window.

Curt shook his head at his friend's response and ran for the window as well. Octavius smashed it out and jumped through the hole the window had occupied.

"There they are!" One of the officers shouted as he took off in pursuit. Octavius looked back at Curt and pointed up at the sky. Curt took the hint and began to scale the building. Octavius took off running down the alley, making his intention clear: you won't be able to capture both of us.

He disappeared behind the building, scaling it and reaching the roof at about the same time Curt did. They took off along the rooftops, effectively losing the police who were even now searching the alley for two men who were no longer there.

"O.K, that was not fun." Curt said when they stopped, several blocks away.

"Really? I thought you would have enjoyed that." Octavius said sarcastically. "At least we lost them."

"Yeah, you're right there..."

The two were silent for a moment, until Octavius said, "Do you know where the nearest airport is? There's no way we can stay in the city now; the police will be looking all over for us."

"It's a few miles East of here." Curt replied, sitting on the edge of the roof, looking up at the moon. "We could probably get there in about 20 minutes."

"Then let's go." Octavius said, already heading in that direction. "I don't intend on letting the police find me again."

--

_21 minutes later..._

The air traffic controller at the NYC airport was falling asleep at his desk already. It was to be a long night of work, and he was only expecting two flights all night, both of them incoming.

He wasn't paying attention as two men snuck onto the tarmac and prepared to make off with one of their airplanes.

He did, however, notice when the engine of the plane was fired up, and he ran out of the station shouting, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!? STOP THAT AIRCRAFT RIGHT NOW!!"

The two men looked at each other, and the man in the passenger's seat (whom the controller noticed only had one arm) gave him the single-finger salute and motioned to the man in the pilot's seat to lift off. As the plane rolled towards the end of the runway, the controller chased after it, but was too late as he watched it leave the ground and head East. He shook his head and walked back towards his station, knowing he'd lose his job for this...

--

"I didn't think there would be anyone there this late at night." Curt said, looking over Octavius' shoulder to see how he was flying. He appeared to be doing alright, for now.

"Curt, you're breaking my concentration." Octavius said, not looking back. "You forget, I've never done this."

"Sorry." Curt said. "I'd like to take over, but I can't work the yoke with only one arm. And you've got six, so you've got an advantage-"

"Curt, _shut up!!"_ Octavius shouted, accidentally jerking up on the yoke and nearly sending the plane in a tailspin.

Curt shut up after that, merely making sure that everything was fine with the plane.

There was silence for several minutes before Octavius said, "I didn't imagine flying an airplane was this hard."

"Well, you seem to be doing alright." Curt said. "You catch on pretty quickly. It took me a few weeks to learn how to fly."

No response.

Curt shrugged and leaned back in his seat, looking down at the calm surface of the Atlantic.

"I don't know how you expect me to fly this plane all the way to Moscow." Octavius said. "How long of a flight is that? Several hours. And it's already midnight."

"O.K, I admit, this wasn't the best thought-out plan," Curt said, looking up at him. "But how else are we going to get there within a week, and have time to find her?"

"Not to mention, we have no idea when this thing was last re-fueled..." Octavius said, shaking his head. "For all we know, we could be about to run out of fuel right now..."

Curt looked over his shoulder at the fuel gauge; nearly full.

"We're good on fuel for now." he said.

"We'd better be." Octavius said, before falling silent.

Curt tried to think of what to do about this.

"Well, I don't know what to do about how to get all the way there..." he said, apologetically.

"Curt, there's no way I'm going to last long enough to fly this thing all the way there!" Octavius said, annoyed. "I haven't slept since 4:00 this morning! If you think I'm going to be able to stay awake the entire flight, you're deluding yourself."

Curt was silent a moment, before an idea came to him.

"CRAP! There's another aircraft headed right towards us!" Curt shouted, although there wasn't really.

Octavius jerked the yoke to the left out of reflex to avoid the airplane that wasn't really there. The plane went left suddenly, and Curt had to stifle his laughter as his plan worked.

"Curt, you _idiot_!" Octavius shouted when he realized what Curt had just done. "Are you _trying_ to make me crash this plane!?"

Curt couldn't hold in his laughter as he said, "No, that's what our instructors in the air force would do to keep us alert! I figured it would work on you!"

"I swear to God, if you do that again, I'll take this plane down in the middle of the Atlantic!"

"Alright, I'm sorry." Curt said, still laughing. "I couldn't think of anything else to do!"

Again, no response.

Curt looked up at the sky and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. He tried to think of something to do, and didn't notice when he nodded off...

--

It was hours before Curt woke up. The first thing he noticed was that they were no longer in the air.

_Did we crash?_ he thought, still half-asleep. _Am I dead?_

The next thing he noticed was that they were on the ground, still in the airplane. The sun had already come up.

He looked over the seat at Octavius, to find that he was out cold, his head resting against the yoke.

_Where did he find a place to land? _

He stepped out of the airplane, and checked his watch. It was 8:00 am, in New York time. He looked around, noticing what appeared to be a large city in the distance.

"Did we make it to Moscow?" he said to himself as he leaned against the airplane.

The response came unexpectedly.

"Yes, we made it to Moscow." Octavius said, still half-asleep. "About 3 hours ago."

"I'm completely lost now. There's a major time zone difference between NYC and Moscow. How long were we in the air?" Curt said, looking up at the sky.

"Longer than I wanted to be." Octavius replied, putting his sunglasses on and stepping from the airplane. "I'm not flying that thing on the way back."

Curt looked around to find what appeared to be 3 or 4 people with rifles heading towards them.

"If we don't get out of here now, we won't have to worry about the trip back!" Curt said, pointing towards the people running towards them.

Octavius looked over at them and said, "Follow me! We need to lose them, quick!"

He took off towards the city, Curt running behind. Suddenly, a rifle shot rang out, and Octavius heard the bullet zing by his head.

"Don't run straight!" he shouted. "Those men are apparently very accurate!"

Another shot rang out, and Curt started running faster, looking behind himself to find that the riflemen were getting closer...

Suddenly, Octavius reached in his coat and pulled out a small bottle of something and a match. He lit the bottle on fire and threw it behind him, shouting, "Curt, watch your head!"

The sound of an explosion rang out behind them, and the sound of the riflemen screaming split the air. Curt looked back to find them trying to put themselves out.

"What was that you threw at them!?" Curt said, surprised.

"A Molotov cocktail." Octavius said, a wicked smile on his face. "I siphoned the fuel out of the airplane after we landed. I figured we might need one if getting into the capitol building proved harder than we thought. That was the only one I made."

Curt could only shake his head at his friend's ingenuity as they approached the outskirts of the city. They were well in the city before they stopped running, and Curt asked, "Who were those men, anyways?"

"Probably soldiers of the Russian military." Octavius said, leaning against the wall of a building. "That may explain why they were so accurate with their shooting. Or, as accurate as you can call them. They didn't hit us once. Maybe they need to go back to basic training."

"No kidding." Curt said, nodding in agreement.

The two were silent a moment before Octavius said, "Well, we'd better go find the capitol building. He told me that was the only way to find out where the headquarters was located. He was too afraid to lie to me, so I know this has to be it. Or, for his sake, it had better be. But we'll have to wait until nightfall to get in there. There will be too many guards during the day."

"That's what I was thinking." Curt said. "But the question is, what do we do until then?"

"There's nothing we can do but wait." Octavius said. "But first, I think we had better find the building..."

--

While it was 4:00 pm in Moscow, the day was barely breaking in NYC. Capt. Stacy had just got to the station and got ready for another day of work, when the desk on his phone rang.

He picked it up and said, "Precinct 92. Capt. Stacy speaking... yes, wait a second, they did WHAT!? Oh my God... they were headed for Moscow? How would you know this?... and you have the identity of the lizard-man? Who is... you've got to be kidding me. Yes, I already intend on it. Thanks again for the tip." He slammed down the phone and screamed, _"WHAT IS IT WITH THOSE TWO!?"_

He called DeWolff in his office and said, "We have a fresh tip. The two men from last night hijacked a plane and flew to Moscow."

"Why would they fly there!?" DeWolff said.

"I haven't the slightest idea. But I do know the identity of the man working with Octavius. He's apparently a science professor and a famed geneticist by the name of Dr. Curtis Connors." He put his head on the desk and said, "_How _didn't I know it would be him? I talked to him the last time I was dealing with Octavius. And now the two are getting themselves into trouble."

"What do you intend on doing now, sir?" DeWolff asked, looking at him.

"I want a warning sent out to Interpol. They've fled the country, making them internationally wanted. I want them back here to be charged with what they've done."

DeWolff nodded and left the room.

Capt. Stacy sat back in his chair, his hand to his head.

_This is just what I wanted when I came to work today, _he thought sarcastically._ I've got two rogue scientists with superpowers who just fled the country. This sounds like something out of a '30s B-movie. And yet, it's actually happening._

_No matter... they can't elude us for long. Something's going to bring them back to the USA..._

_-To be continued..._

_--_

_A/N: If anyone out there can elucidate the time zone differences between NYC and Moscow, this would be much appreciated. I think it's about 8 hours, but, oh yeah, I have no way of knowing for sure._

_-The Inimitable Enigma Cypher_


	5. A Night In The City

**Chapter Five**

_11:51 pm, the Moscow capitol building..._

By now, the sun had gone down long ago. The capitol building was completely empty by the time Octavius had worked the hinges off of the back door with a tentacle blade. Breaking the door down was not an option, and so he had opted to remove the door. Throwing it aside, him and Curt entered the building, watching for any guards that might still be inside the building.

When they reached the room where the records were kept, they found that the door was unlocked. Walking in, they quickly set to work on searching the rows of filing cabinets that lined the walls.

"You mean we have to go through all of these!?" Curt had said, dismayed.

"If we want to have any chance of finding where they're hiding her, yes, we do." Octavius said, although he was just as daunted by the idea of going through thousands of files just to find one.

They had spent hours looking through the files. Curt had crashed about 3 hours in, and could not be woken up, even with extensive poking.

"It's not here!" Octavius said after looking through every file in the room. "The location of their headquarters is nowhere to be found!"

"So you mean we looked through all of these files for nothing?" Curt said, waking up. "How is it not here?"

"They must have removed it before we got here." Octavius said, slamming his fist into one of the cabinets, frustrated. "HOW did they know we would come here!?"

"Maybe that man you interrogated tipped them off." Curt mumbled, leaning against the wall.

"That has to be the only explanation. But I specifically warned him of what would happen if he did!"

"Maybe he just lied." Curt said, walking over to him and looking through the file himself.

"It doesn't help that half of these files are in Russian. I mean, that's to be expected, but none of them even hint as to where they could be hiding her."

Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed down the empty hallway. Someone else was in the building.

"Curt, we need to get out of here NOW." Octavius whispered as he headed towards the door, ready to make a break for it before whomever it was found him.

Unfortunately, the moment he stepped into the corridor, someone came around the corner, a rifle in hand.

"HALT!" the guard shouted, taking aim with the gun.

Octavius did not make a move for the exit. He looked at the rifle the guard was holding, wondering if he could smack it out of his hands before he could get the chance to fire.

"What's going on out there?" Curt said, alarmed.

"Don't make any sudden movements." Octavius said, looking at Curt through the corner of his eye. "He's armed." He took a step towards the door, causing the guard to take direct aim at his head.

"I said freeze!" the guard shouted. "I mean it!"

Without warning, faster than the guard could think, Octavius grabbed hold of the half-opened door and threw it open, the edge of the door slamming the guard directly in his nose. The guard instinctively dropped his gun and put his hand to his shattered nose. The gun discharged, the round landing harmlessly in the ceiling.

"COME ON!" Octavius shouted, running for the exit. "He's distracted now!"

Curt ran out of the room just as the guard got it together enough to pick up his gun and fire a few rounds at the the two. His aim was off, however one round found its mark, hitting Curt... and bouncing off. Curt just looked back at the guard and snarled, before they made it back outside through the door they had entered.

It was several minutes before they stopped running, and Curt said, "That was a colossal waste of time."

"I know. All of those hours wasted..." Octavius said, leaning against a brick building, shaking his head. "I can't believe we looked through that entire room and didn't find any indication as to where they might be hiding her.

The two were silent a moment before Curt said, "Well, there's one thing I found out... being part-lizard has its advantages."

"What do you mean by that?" Octavius asked, looking at him oddly.

"The guard hit me with a round when he shot at us, but the bullet bounced off. I know that some lizards have armor-like skin, but I didn't experiment with any of them. Somehow, that trait took effect in me."

Octavius did not respond for several seconds, but finally he said, "Is there any other unexpected attributes you could wind up with? Because if you suddenly start growing horns or a spiked tail, I'm out of here."

Curt could only laugh at that.

"I don't think that's going to happen."

"Good. Now we need to find a place to stay for the night." Octavius said, looking around. "I don't intend on staying on the streets now that we've been spotted."

"Neither do I..."

--

Meanwhile, the guard at the Capitol had called the police about what happened. The local police had recognized the two men the guard had mentioned; they had gotten a warning from Interpol no more than an hour ago about two men who had fled the USA and were rumored to be here. Even now, they were planning a way to capture the two of them...

--

_10 minutes later..._

"Do you have a room for the night?"

The woman at the front desk of a small motel in the city looked confused. Standing in front of her were two of the strangest figures she had ever seen. One of them was part-lizard; the other had four mechanical arms. She had _never _seen anything like it before. Fortunately for the two, she could speak English; the two looked like they were not from around here.

"I might. I'll have to check."

The man with the four mechanical arms said, "Could you? My friend here's a little drunk; he needs to lie down." Curt wasn't really drunk, but Octavius had said it would make a decent excuse for why they were out at such a late hour.

The woman nodded and looked down at the papers on her desk.

"There's a room on the top floor." She handed Octavius the key and said, "Room 103. If you need anything, just ask." She didn't bother asking for their names; she had recognized them when they walked in.

The two headed for the top floor, and the woman picked up the phone on her desk and dialed the number of the local police station...

--

The chief on duty at the Moscow police station was not happy when the phone on his desk rang. He was just about ready to call it a night; why did someone have to call right now?

He picked up the phone and said, "Moscow police, station 42. What is the nature of this call?"

The woman on the other end said, "I hear you're tracking two foreigners by the names of Otto Octavius and Curtis Connors?"

The chief said, "Yes? Why do you ask?"

"Both of them just walked into my motel. They checked out a room on the top floor."

The chief could not respond for a moment. This was unexpected.

"We won't be able to get there until morning. Not enough on-duty officers to take them down right now. Do _not_ let them know we are coming. Can I get an address?"

The woman gave him her address and the chief hung up. He walked out of his office and got a few of his officers together, giving them the information he had just heard. They were to storm the motel the very next morning, the chief told them, not noticing the officer on the phone in the next room...

--

Meanwhile, at the SVR H.Q, the news that Octavius and Curt had been spotted in the city had made itself known to the leader of the operation after a spy at the police station had tipped them off. He called the H.Q and passed along the information.

Locked in a room deep in the building, Rosie had not yet heard this. She had been sitting there since she got here, listening to the guards walking down the hall, listening for any news on the situation.

She heard two of them walking down the hall and pressed her ear to the door, hoping to hear what they were saying. Luck was with her this time.

"...yeah, I heard he decided to come here to look for her." one of them said. "He had a friend with him. Some lizard-man."

"He'd better not screw up the plan. I got a lot riding on this plan."

Rosie was shocked at what she was hearing. They had come here looking for her? This was unexpected. She kept listening.

"I know. All I know is that if Octavius shows up here, I'm running for it. I heard what happened to some of the guys at the NYC H.Q, I'm not letting it happen to me."

"And what are the chances he'll find us? The boss already removed the file at the capitol that could lead him here! He'll never find this place!"

_No! He has to find this place! _she thought. _either that, or..._

She knocked on the door to get the guards' attention. One of them opened the door and said, "What do you want?"

Rosie stood up and said, "Could you come here for a moment?"

--

_Back at the motel..._

"We should be safe here for the night." Octavius said as they entered the room. He removed the actuators, putting them at the foot of his bed. "The police can't possibly know we're here."

"What if they called Interpol?" Curt said, claiming one of the two beds in the room.

Octavius thought on that for a moment.

"I didn't think about that... but how could they know we're in Moscow? Unless someone called them about the hijacked airplane..." he said, trailing off. "I don't think the woman at the front desk could have recognized us, but we should probably leave first thing in the morning, just to be safe."

"I agree. We shouldn't take chances by staying in one place too long." Curt said, lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

They were both silent for a moment before Octavius said, "I can't believe it. Here I am, in a strange land, trying to find my fiancee, and all because the Russians couldn't find someone else to build them an atomic bomb." He laid back on his own bed and said, "Why me!? I know they have to have their own scientists who could help out! Why'd it have to be me!? I swear, I just seem to attract trouble."

"It's not you, I don't think." Curt said.

"Then how else do you explain what's happened to me in the last year?" Octavius said, not convinced. "This is the second time this year something like this has happened to me. And now I'm an internationally wanted man, simply because the SVR couldn't leave me be. It's either I get Rosie back and wind up in prison for what had transpired, or I build them a bomb and be considered an enemy of the United States! Either way, I'm in deep trouble. I'll wind up losing everything that meant anything to me: my credibility, my research, and the love of my life, simply because I know too much! If I had known anything like this would happen to me, I'd have stayed in Germany!" He put the pillow over his head and said, "Why me!?"

Curt looked over at him and said, "I don't know. Let's just hope nothing like this happens again."

Octavius took the pillow off his face and said, "I know. I don't know how much more of this I'll be able to take. Anyways, I'm going to bed." He switched the light off and laid there for a while.

_I don't understand it. First the incident with Osborn, and now this. Why does all this seem to happen to me?_

He couldn't figure it out for the life of him. He laid there, looking up at the ceiling until his consciousness gave out on him...

--

"OPEN UP! This is the police!"

Octavius awoke the next morning to the sound of someone pounding on the door.

"We know you're in there! Come out and we'll go easy on you!"

_How did they find us!?_

He quickly put the actuators back on, threw his coat over them, and ran over to Curt and shook him awake.

"Curt, the police are here! We have to run!"

Curt was only half-awake as he said, "Wha-? How'd they find us?"

"I don't know!" Octavius said as the pounding on the door intensified. "We have to get out of here!"

"How? The cops are blocking the exit!"

"We'll have to escape through the window."

Just then, the door flew open, and several cops stood there, guns drawn.

"Don't move!" one of them shouted.

"Curt, you said that bullets bounced off of you?" Octavius whispered so the cops didn't hear.

"Yeah, they bounce right off."

"Then cover me as I run for the window. That's the only way we're getting out of here."

Curt nodded and put himself between Octavius and the cops who started firing at him. They were stunned as the bullets all pinged off of him without leaving a mark.

Octavius ran for the window, shatttering it and climbing out, clinging to the building with all 4 actuators. He looked up and shouted, "Come on! We need to get out of here!!"

Curt jumped out the window, clinging to it as a lizard would. When they got to the bottom, the cops had already ran out of the building. And they had backup; an armed response team had shown up, automatic weapons in hand. And they looked as if they would really use them.

"There's too many of them!" Curt said, frightened. "What do we do now?"

_-To be continued..._

_--_

_(A/N: I know, I know. This chapter seems kind of rushed. I didn't have the greatest plot worked out for this chapter. I couldn't think of anything else to do, though. Next chapter will be better, I promise._

_-The Inimitable Enigma Cypher)_


	6. An Arrest and an Escape

**Chapter Six**

Octavius and Curt took a moment to look around and assess the situation. They were practically backed up against the wall, with at least 20 officers of the Russian police surrounding them. There was no way they could fight their way out of this situation; not without being shot, anyways. Sure, Curt could withstand gunfire. But they both knew that it was not a wise idea to fight against this many officers. They looked over at each other, knowing there was only one way out of this situation...

"Put your hands in the air!" the lead cop said. However, he said it in Russian, a language neither of them spoke. Octavius shook his head and tried to tell them they didn't speak the same language. The cop understood, but ordered two of his officers to cuff them. Neither of them put up any resistance as the two cops handcuffed them and put them in the back of the squad car.

As they drove towards the station, Octavius said, in a low whisper, "Do you have any idea how to get out of this one?"

Curt shook his head and said, "We'll have to see what the situation is, first."

When they got to the station, Octavius and Curt were locked in a back room until someone came to talk to them. They were going to have a hard time getting information out of two men that couldn't speak their language, however.

It was several minutes before someone came in the back to get them. They were escorted into a small office, where the chief of police was sitting.

"So, I take it neither of you speak Russian?" the chief said. However, he said it in his native language, and the confused looks on both of their faces gave him the answer. The chief shook his head and tried to think on what to do with these two.

Octavius and Curt were looking at each other, silently asking if the other had any idea what to do. They _did _want to cooperate, if only to have more time to find her, but neither of them spoke Russian, and, apparently, none of the cops spoke English.

It was then that an idea came to Octavius...

"Spricht einer der Beamten deutsch?" Octavius asked, thinking that one of the cops must be able to speak German.

The chief was silent a moment, a rather surprised look on his face, before he left the room. He returned a minute later with another, younger officer with him. The officer took a seat and the chief left the room.

"Wie heißen Sie und wo kommen Sie her?" the cop asked Octavius.

Octavius replied, "Mein name ist Otto Octavius. Das ist Curt Connors. Wir sind aus New York."

At this, the cop looked surprised.

"Ich schon mal von Ihnen gehört." he said, leaning back in his chair. "Sie sind einer der bekanntsten Wissenschaftler der Welt. Wie kommt es, dass sie in so eine Sache verwickelt sind?"

By now, Curt looked totally lost. Octavius whispered, "I'll explain all this in a minute." He turned back to the officer and said, "Meine Verlobte wurde von der SVR gekidnappt. Sie wird irgendwo in dieser Stadt festgehalten, wir versuchen sie zu finden bevor die sie umbringen."

The cop looked at him oddly, before saying, "Yeah, als ob ich das jetzt glauben würde. Egal, wie alt sind sie?"

Octavius asked Curt, "How old are you again? I forgot."

"I'm 35." Curt said, still very confused.

Octavius nodded, as if that confirmed his estimate, and said, "Ich bin 26, er 35."

The cop asked a few more questions, then left the room. Curt sat there a minute, dumbfounded.

"It was the only way I could think of to communicate." Octavius said, noticing the look on his face. "If we didn't cooperate, we'd be locked in here until God-knows-when."

Just then, the chief walked back in the room, motioning for the two men to stand up. Octavius looked over at Curt, both of them wondering what was happening. They followed him out of the office and back out to the cop car. The ride was silent until they arrived at what was obviously the city's prison.

"Get a good look at the place." Octavius whispered, barely audible. "We need to see if there's any way to, you know..."

"What, you mean..." here, he lowered his voice and continued, "...a way to escape?"

"Yes."

Curt nodded and looked out the window at the huge brick building, complete with guard towers, spotlights, and barbed wire fences.

"They don't go light on security in this place, do they?" Octavius said, rolling his eyes.

"Apparently not." Curt growled, shaking his head.

The car stopped and the cop walked to the back door of the car. Opening it, he escorted the two into the prison.

When they entered, the cop turned them over to a guard and said something to him. They could already tell that this place was not as heavy on security as they first thought. The locks on the doors of the inmates' cells were flimsy things, that could easily be picked by someone with a lockpick. There were only a few guards in the cellblock, and only half of them were armed.

They were led to a cell about halfway down the cellblock. The guard motioned for them to enter. They walked into the cell reluctantly.

"You two will be sharing a cell." the guard said, in English this time.

The two were surprised that they finally found someone who speaks their language. Octavius said, "Fine."

"The inmates will be let out into the main yard in about 10 minutes. Lunch is in about an hour. And I'll need to take your sunglasses." he said to Octavius.

Octavius glared at him and said, "I don't think so."

The guard glared back and said, "And why not?"

Octavius resisted the urge to hit the guard for his stupidity, and said, "For one thing, I am severely nearsighted. And my eyes are intolerant of bright lights. The shades stay with me."

The angry expression on the guard's face disappeared and he said, "Ah. Well, I'll be back in 10 minutes to escort you to the yard." With that, he slammed the cell door shut. Octavius took a seat on the bottom bunk and said, "Alright, any ideas? Any idea you have would be nice."

Curt leaned against the wall and said, "I've got nothing."

"Well, when I got a close look at the outside of the building, there appeared to be a section of the main yard that was out of range of all but one of the spotlights in the towers." Octavius said, keeping his voice down in case the guard was still around. "And these locks look easy to pick, given some time. I think an escape at night would be best."

"But we're being let out into the main yard in about 5 minutes." Curt said. "Why not just make a break for it then?"

"Um, Curt? The guards will be _expecting _that. We're not exactly inconspicuous, you know. They'd know it was us trying to escape. I mean, a lizard-man and a man with four mechanical arms? It's like we have a sign painted on us."

"Oh, duh." Curt said, smacking his forehead. "I just really don't like it here. I'm a little unnerved right now... it reminds me of WWI... I was locked in a POW camp for a few months. This place reminds me of it."

They both fell silent until the guard came back and said, "Alright, let's go."

When they got out into the main yard, they found that there was quite a few people locked up in this prison. Most of them looked hardened, like they had been here many years. One of these men, a big thug-like man with black hair, walked up to Octavius and said, "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"

Octavius glared up at him and said, "What does it matter to you?"

The thug looked down at him and laughed.

"Kind of short to be mouthing off, y'think?"

"And you're kind of stupid to be standing there threatening me, y'think?" Octavius mocked, imitating the thug's deep voice. "If I were you, I'd go somewhere else, somewhere that you're not in danger of being struck down where you stand."

Curt took a step forward. This was not going to end well...

The thug's face turned red and he said, "Walk away. I'm warning you."

_"Who_ are you to stand there and presume to command me!?" Octavius shouted, raising himself up on two tentacles, glaring down at the thug. "Do you _know _who I am!?"

The thug took a step back, but before he could say anything, one of his buddies walked up and said, "This guy giving you trouble?"

Octavius said, "There was no trouble until he decided to cause some. I suggest you get him away from me."

The man looked over at his friend and said, "Get out of here, Sergei. You're making an ass out of yourself." The thug shook his head, but walked away. The man said, "Sorry, he's just a prick to the new guys. Who are you two, anyways?"

Octavius lowered himself back to the ground, but did not respond. Curt said, "We're not exactly from around here. I'm Curtis Connors. This is Doctor Otto Octavius."

The man looked at Octavius and said, "Haven't I heard of you before?"

Octavius was silent a moment before saying, "You might have."

The man thought about it for a second before saying, "Hey, yeah! You're some kind of scientist, right? What the hell are you doing in here, then?"

Octavius and Curt looked at each other, before Octavius said, "Hijacking an aircraft and demolishing the New York headquarters of the Russian intelligence service."

The man whistled and said, "Wow. That beats the pants off what half of us in here have done. My brother over there, you know, the worst he did was a few armed robberies. Small-time shit. But you two... damn." He whistled again and said, "Might as well introduce myself. I'm Dmitri Smerdyakov." He shook Octavius' hand and said, "If there's anything you need, just tell me. I can get just about anything you'll need."

Octavius looked around and said, "Can you get me a lockpick?"

Smerdyakov nodded and said, "Yeah, I can get you that. Might take a few hours, but I can have it to you by tonight."

"Excellent." Octavius said. "I appreciate it. Thanks."

"No problem." Smerdyakov said. "I've been trying to get out of this place for years, myself. But I suck at picking locks. I'll have it in your cell after lunch. I know which one is yours; I watched you come in." A small commotion caught his attention and he said, "Sorry, I have to go calm down my idiot brother." He ran towards him, shouting "Sergei, put him down!"

Curt watched him leave and said, "Well, at least _he's _not a total ass."

"Yeah." Octavius said, nodding. "And now we have a way to escape."

They continued to plan their escape, out of earshot of the guards, until the whistle blew for them to return to their cells. They had a solid plan. Now all they had to do was wait until nightfall...

--

_8:17 pm..._

By this time, the inmates were back in their cells, and the guards were getting ready to call it a night. There was only one guard in the cellblock when Octavius set to work on the door with the lockpick that Smerdyakov had slipped in his cell. Curt was standing behind him, watching the guard's movements and warning Octavius if the guard looked like he heard something.

It took several minutes before the lock gave way, and Octavius quietly slid the door open, motioning for Curt to head out first. He gave Curt the signal to take out the guard as quietly as he could. Curt snuck up behind the guard and, with a quick motion that anyone watching would have seen only as a blur, snatched the guard's rifle from his hand and knocked him in the back of the head with it, knocking him unconscious. Octavius walked up behind him, grabbing the guard's keys as he did, and they made their way out of the cellblock. Sneaking down the long corridor as silently as possible, they eventually reached the yard where the inmates were sent during the day.

"Watch for the lights..." Octavius whispered before they crossed the yard, "...and follow me."

Staying as close to the wall as possible, they moved closer and closer to the fence that they would have to climb in order to escape.

Unfortunately, one of them stepped on a glass bottle, and the lights were instantly trained on them.

"RUN!!" Octavius shouted as he ran straight through the yard, Curt following close behind. The sound of gunfire split the night as they ran for the fence.

"Curt, I'll throw you over!" Octavius said as Curt got to him. Picking him up, Octavius threw Curt over the fence. Curt landed on his feet and said, "COME ON!"

Octavius quickly climbed over the fence, and they took off running, the guards in the towers still shooting at them.

They stopped running only when they knew they were far enough away that the guards could no longer fire at them, and they were not likely to be caught again.

Curt said, "I can't believe we pulled it off. I didn't think we'd actually make it out of there without-" That's when he noticed that there was a big red spot on Octavius' shoulder, and there was a hole in his coat, as if...

"Did you get shot!?" Curt said, instantly worried.

"It's... not as bad as it looks." Octavius said, although Curt knew it hurt. The look on his face gave it away.

"Maybe we should stop then." Curt said. "We ought to bandage that up real quick."

"No, it's alright." Octavius replied. "I'll be... I'll be fine..."

All of a sudden, he fell to the ground. Curt knelt over him and saw that he was unconscious. He tried shaking him awake, but it was no use. He looked around and saw someone with a flashlight walking towards him.

He picked him up and looked around, trying to find some place to go. He needed to find some place to hide, and quick.

He ran out of the city, knowing he couldn't stay in the limits now. He kept running until he approached an apparently deserted building along the banks of a frozen river. It appeared to be an old warehouse, the number "56" in the window.

_This ought to work for tonight..._ he thought as he entered the building...

--

Octavius came to in a dark room. Unsure of where he was at, he tried to sit up, but a searing pain in his right shoulder forced him back down.

"Don't try to sit up." Curt said as he walked over to Octavius. "I told you we should have stopped. Why didn't you tell me you'd been shot?"

"We can't afford any distractions." Octavius said, looking down at the wound, which was now bandaged up. "How long was I out?"

"2 hours." Curt said, sitting down beside him. "I tried waking you up, but you were out like a light. I had to carry you here, which was not easy considering the police now overrunning the city. We're holed up in an old warehouse for the night, in case you're wondering."

"That explains why it's so cold." Octavius said, looking around disinterestedly.

"It's the best place I could find to hide." Curt said apologetically. "It's far enough outside the city that we could probably start a small fire to keep ourselves warm and still go unnoticed."

"Good. Do that, then." Octavius said, before falling silent. He couldn't help but think about the situation. Here he was, hiding from the law, wounded and unable to do anything until morning. Who knew what Rosie may be going through right now?

Curt got a fire started, then sat back down beside Octavius.

"So, any ideas about what to do now?" he said, putting his hands by the fire to warm them up. How Curt even functioned in the cold in his half-reptilian state remained a mystery.

"I haven't the slightest idea what to do." Octavius replied, shaking his head. "I _should_ know what to do, but I've got _nothing_!! Meanwhile, she's out there being subjected to God-knows-what, and I'm just sitting here useless!! I should be _tearing this city apart _to find her!!"

Curt could really feel Octavius' frustration at their situation, but there was something else there, an emotion he had never seen in his friend...

"You're afraid you're going to lose her, aren't you?"

For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire, before Octavius whispered, "Yes. More than you can imagine. I never thought I'd feel this strongly for anyone, but... she means the world to me, Curt. I can't go on without her. And if she gets killed because I know too much, it... it would break me."

Curt fell silent at this admission; he really didn't have anything to say that seemed adequate.

"I mean, when she's around, part of me that was always incomplete seems whole. I can't bear the thought of losing her like this, especially after what happened..." here, his voice broke and he looked away. Curt could sense that something bad had happened to Octavius before he came to America. He was debating whether or not to ask him, but Octavius spoke first.

"Did I ever tell you what happened to my mother?"

Curt shook his head, but said nothing.

"It was a few weeks before I came to America. There was this one young woman that I was friends with. My mother rather disapproved of me being friends with her, and she forced me to break contact with her. I did so, not wanting to lose my relationship with my mother. A few weeks later, I found that she had began dating behind my back. And this was after she forced me to give up the one friend I had ever had before I met you. We started arguing. The argument escalated into screaming. I don't remember what happened, but the next thing I knew, she was lying on the floor..." here, he had to fight back an upwelling of emotion that Curt only knew signified something bad, "She was dead. She had died of a heart attack. It probably never would have happened if not for that argument, if not for me..." He couldn't help it. A tear slipped down his cheek and he looked back up at Curt. "I decided the next day to leave Germany. It held too many painful memories now. It was never my research that drove me here, but the memories that I did not want to be haunted by. That's why I can't bear the thought of losing her like this. I can't bear the thought of being the cause of two innocent women dying. It would kill me."

Curt was astounded by what he had just heard. He had never imagined that something that traumatic could have happened to his friend. The depth of his emotions had surprised him as well; behind the distinguished, confident young scientist lurked the vulnerability of a man that had been hurt too much in his life, and Curt couldn't help but feel genuinely sorry for his friend. Over his 15 years of teaching, he had never seen someone with as much depth to him as the young man who sat beside him now, his head in his hands, not really crying so much as remembering, unwillingly, what he had left behind and why he had done so. He put his hand on Octavius' shoulder and said, "I'm sorry. No one should have to go through that."

The two were silent a moment before Curt stood up and walked over to the window, thinking about what he had just been told. Octavius had never talked about his life before coming to America, and what he had just told Curt was almost too much to believe. He gazed up at the moon, partially hidden behind the thick clouds. He lost track of how long he had been standing there, and when he walked back over to the fire, Octavius was already asleep. Curt stood there a moment before putting more wood on the fire and taking a seat by an old packing crate. Leaning against it, he was lost in thought, failing to notice when he nodded off himself.

--

Meanwhile, back in New York, it was only 2 in the afternoon, and Capt. Stacy was going crazy. He hadn't gotten any updates from Interpol about the situation with the two fugitive scientists he had been tracking.

When the phone on his desk rang, he picked it up, hoping to hear some good news for a change.

"Capt. Stacy, 92nd Precinct."

"Um, captain? I have some bad news about the situation in Moscow..."

Capt. Stacy hesitated for a minute before saying, "Alright, talk to me."

"A few hours ago, we had your two fugitives in custody. They were locked up in the prison here."

"And?" Capt. Stacy asked. "What's the bad news?"

"...Both of them escaped 2 hours ago."

"_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" **_Stacy roared into the phone, astounded. "What do you mean, they escaped!?"

There was silence on the other end, before, "Well, one of the two picked the lock to the cell they were being held in-"

"And WHY did you lock them both in the same cell!? They're both geniuses, and you gave them ample opportunity to plot their escape!!"

"We had no choice! There wasn't enough cells for them to be separated! Anyways, they made it out to the main yard and made it over the fence."

Capt. Stacy put his hand to his face, increasingly frustrated by how this was turning out. "And where are they now?"

"We... don't exactly know. However, one of them may have been wounded in the escape. They can't be too far. We'll catch them."

"You'd better!" Capt. Stacy shouted as he slammed the phone back down on the receiver.

_HOW is it that these two continue to elude us!? _he thought, frustrated. _Those two can't be __**that **__clever that they keep eluding us! Why can't they just make it easy on all of us and stop running? There has to be something involved that we don't know about..._

_-To be continued..._

--

_A/N: Before you ask, there __**is**__ an English translation of the scene in the PD, and here it is:_

_-_

It was then that an idea came to Octavius...

"Do any of your officers speak German?" Octavius asked, thinking that one of the cops must be able to speak German.

The chief was silent a moment, a rather surprised look on his face, before he left the room. He returned a minute later with another, younger officer with him. The officer took a seat and the chief left the room.

"What are your names, and where are you from?" the cop asked Octavius.

Octavius replied, "My name is Otto Octavius. His is Curt Connors. We are from New York."

At this, the cop looked surprised.

"I've heard of you before." he said, leaning back in his chair. "You're one of the world's most prominent scientists. What are you doing mixed up in a situation like this?"

By now, Curt looked totally lost. Octavius whispered, "I'll explain all this in a minute." He turned back to the officer and said, "My fiancee was abducted by the SVR. We're trying to get her back before they kill her."

The cop looked at him oddly, before saying, "Yeah, like I'm going to believe that. Anyways, what are your current ages?"

Octavius asked Curt, "How old are you again? I forgot."

"I'm 35." Curt said, still very confused.

Octavius nodded, as if that confirmed his estimate, and said, "I'm 26 years of age, he's 35."

The cop asked a few more questions, then left the room.

-

_...hey, if Dan Brown can put people speaking in a foreign language in his story, so can I. It adds to the authenticity of the scene. So don't say a word. _

_I'd like to thank braindamage-1990 (BD) for the German translation, seeing as how I couldn't have written that scene without her help._

_-The Inimitable Enigma Cypher_


	7. Uncontrolled Occurrences

**Chapter Seven**

_8:03 am, the next day..._

Curt woke up first the next morning. He looked over at Octavius, who was apparently still asleep. He remembered last night's conversation as he walked over to the window to see if there was anyone around. What had made him tell Curt about that part of his past life? Maybe it was simply stress over the situation? Or maybe he finally felt confident enough to confide in him? He couldn't tell.

After confirming that there was no one around, he walked back to the now-smoldering fire.

"Hey, Otto. Are you awake?"

"It's too early for this, Curt." Octavius mumbled. No, he had not been awake. "Are there any cops around?"

"No, there's not."

"Then let me sleep, blast it. I haven't slept worth a damn since we got here."

Curt merely shrugged as he took a seat, leaning against a nearby crate.

"I just thought you'd want me to wake you up so we could figure out what to do next." he said as he thought about putting more fuel on the fire, then decided against it. Hopefully they wouldn't be there long enough to need it.

"If I had any ideas, I wouldn't be trying to fall back asleep, would I?" Octavius said as he sat up, putting his sunglasses on. "I'm still thinking on what to do. But, since I'm awake, do you have any ideas? We've still got a limited amount of time to find her."

Curt was about to say something, but Octavius spoke up again.

"Wait! I think I have an idea!" he said, sounding bewildered. "I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier! When we were going through the files the other night, looking for the location of their headquarters, I saw something about an old agent for the SVR; apparently, one of their top-ranking operatives. He was thrown out of the agency for leaking information to another country! He'll have to know where the headquarters is!"

Curt could only shake his head in amazement. Leave it to Otto Octavius to come up with the idea he never would have thought of.

"And if he'll give out information to anyone, he'd be more than willing to give it to someone significantly more dangerous than the people he's dealt with." he continued, a truly wolfish smirk crossing his face. "I've got it now!"

Again, Curt could not reply.

"I know where he lives and what his name is, too. I don't know how I remember it, but I'm certain of it!" Octavius said as he stood up and grabbed his trenchcoat from atop one of the boxes. "I say we get over there now, before he leaves to do whatever it is that he does for a living. Get the information out of him now."

"I agree." Curt replied as he stood up himself.

"So I guess the question now is..." Octavius said as he started for the door, "...who's going to be able to stop us, when we get the information to bring their organization down?"

--

_8:39 am..._

By the time they got to the apartment in question, they were frustrated to find that their possible informant had already left.

"Blast it!" Octavius snarled as he watched the man walk down the road. "Now we'll have to wait until he gets back."

"I'll take up a position on the roof and alert you when I see him come back." Curt said as he walked towards the stairwell.

Octavius watched him walk away, before reaching into his pocket for the lockpick that he still had after their prison break. It took him less time this attempt to get the door open, and he walked into the man's apartment.

_Looks like this man leads a pretty decent lifestyle. _he thought disinterestedly. His apartment was rather luxurious for someone who had been exiled from his former profession.

He pulled the curtains shut before taking a seat in one of the armchairs in a corner of the room. There was enough light to notice the magazine on the end table beside the chair; it was an older copy of "Scientific American."

_Hmm... and apparently he's a man of intellect, as well. _he thought, picking up the magazine. _Of course, he could never hope to be my equal..._

He flipped through the magazine and was rather amused to find an article that he himself had once written, on the various applications of radiation. He had written the article about 2 years ago.

_Strange coincidence, _he thought as he continued flipping through the magazine. _I wonder if he'd recognize me?_

On a whim, he pulled a pen from his pocket and flipped back to the article.

_Maybe once our little 'conversation' is over, he'd be surprised to know who he was talking to. _he thought as he wrote:

_Thanks for the information. Much appreciated. And next time, try to keep from speaking so freely. They may not let you off so easy next time._

_-Dr. Otto Octavius_

_Let's see his reaction to __**that. **_ he thought as he set the magazine back down, opened to that page, and walked towards the bar that occupied one corner of the room. He didn't often drink, but he could go for a martini once in a while.

He poured himself one and sat back down in the chair, looking at the clock. This was going to be a long day...

--

_6:25 pm..._

When the man, who went by the alias 'Adrian Toomes' returned to his apartment, night had fallen. Walking up to his apartment, he could have sworn he heard a strange whistling sound, almost like one meant to be a signal for something, coming from the roof. He dismissed it as simple paranoia. He had gotten several threats on his life after the incident with the SVR.

But when he entered the apartment, he thought maybe his paranoia was entirely justified.

There was a man whom he'd never seen before, sitting in his leather armchair, sipping a martini and looking at him with a dangerous smile. The most frightening thing about him, however, was the strange device he was wearing; the four mechanical arms attached to it were writhing in the air behind him, as if they had a mind of their own.

"Ah, Mr. Toomes. I've been waiting for you." the man said as he set his drink on the end table.

Adrian backed up a step and said, "W-Who are you?"

"You'll find out later." he replied. "Right now, I have to have a word with you."

At that, Adrian bolted for the door, but a man who was apparently standing behind the door, and one who looked for all the world like a giant lizard, slammed it shut, standing in front of it.

"You have no reason to fear me, Toomes. Not yet, anyways." the tentacled man said as he stood up and started pacing the floor. "There are a few things I want to know about the Russian Intelligence Service. The SVR."

"H-How could you know I have that information?" Adrian said as he put one hand against the wall to steady himself.

"What you don't know won't hurt you." the tentacled man said as he stopped pacing and looked over at Adrian.

"No, but the SVR will if I tell anymore!" Adrian said, shaking his head. "I already know too much, but if I was to give away any more information-"

"I am giving you one warning now." the tentacled man said as he took a step forward, grabbing Adrian by the lapels of his suit jacket, lifting him off the ground. "Whatever the SVR would do to you..." he continued, a dangerous tone to his voice, "...will be _nothing _compared to what _I _will do. The SVR has something that I want, and you _will _tell me what I want to know. Is this understood?"

Adrian could not speak, but he nodded in the affirmative.

"Good. Glad we understand each other." the apparently dangerous man said as he released Adrian and took a step back. "First question: Where is the SVR headquarters? Tell me the truth."

"It's on the West side of the city. In the business district." he said, also giving the address.

"Good." the man said as he readjusted his sunglasses on his face, taking another sip of his drink. "Second question: what defenses do they have protecting the building?"

"None, really." Adrian said, taking a seat at his desk. "Only a few armed guards patrolling the perimeter. They were always lax on security."

"Nice to know. And finally, third question: where would they lock up anyone they hay have taken captive?"

"Underground." Adrian said. The bewildered look on the man's face made him clarify that statement. "I mean the basement. They lock up all prisoners there."

"As I expected." the man said as he finished his drink and set the empty glass on the counter. "And with that, I've got what I need. But if you lied to me, I _will _come back for you."

"Don't worry." Adrian said. "That's the honest truth."

"It had better be." he said as he opened the door, him and the lizard-man heading out.

"Wait!" Adrian said. "You didn't tell me your name!"

The tentacled man turned around for only a moment, a smirk on his face as he said, "You'd be surprised to know that you've probably heard of me. That's all I'm telling you." And with that, he slammed the door shut.

Adrian merely shook his head as he walked over to his chair. Taking a seat, he noticed the open magazine. Picking it up, he noticed the signature on it, and it stunned him all the more.

_That was Otto Octavius!? _he thought as he looked at the signature again. _Shit, had I known that, maybe I'd have been a little more forthcoming with the information..._

_--_

"Well, that was easier than I thought it was going to be." Octavius said as they stood atop a rooftop several blocks away. "Then again, he didn't look as if he'd resist too much. He better have been honest with me."

"He looked too afraid to lie." Curt responded, pulling his coat tighter around him. "Then again, I guess you never really know upfront."

"Which is why I intend on heading over to the SVR headquarters now. He said it was on the West side of the city. I wonder if they'd be willing to let me in after hours?"" Octavius said, a smirk across his face. "When security is bound to be at a minimum?"

"I catch your drift." Curt said, nodding.

"Good. Now all we have to do is wait... again. Personally I grow tired of all this waiting, but if it means we get her back..."

--

_11:00 pm, the SVR headquarters..._

By now, the last guard assigned to patrol the perimenter of the SVR's headquarters had gone home, leaving the security to the guards on the inside. Armed with nothing more than pistols, the interior guards were more than well-prepared to deal with any normal intruders tonight.

Of course, the two men who had just entered the building through a back door were anything but normal.

Curt had entered first, mainly for the purpose of checking the hallways for any guards; being immune to their bullets was mainly why they had decided on him entering first.

He looked down both corridors before signaling for Octavius to enter the building.

"So, do we have any idea how to get to the basement?" Curt asked, looking around.

"My guess? Tearing through the floor. But seeing as how we don't know where she is down there, that might not be a good idea." Octavius said as he looked around himself, looking for an indication of which direction to head in. Curt couldn't tell whether or not he was joking when he suggesting going through the floor.

They silently crept through the corridors, occassionally ducking into a dark doorway as a guard walked past, then continued through the building.

"There." Octavius said, pointing towards a sign on a nearby door. "That's how we're getting in. That's the door to the basement, I'm sure of it."

"And there's a guard posted outside the door." Curt said, looking at the guard standing about 15 feet away.

"Not a problem." Octavius said as he took a step towards the corner and, with blinding speed, clubbed the guard in the head with a tentacle, knocking him out.

After making sure to hide the unconscious guard in a nearby closet and grabbing the keys from his belt, the two of them made their way downstairs, being careful to watch for any guards that would be downstairs.

Sure enough, there was one standing about ten feet from the bottom step. He had spotted them right before Curt roared and pounced on top of him, hitting him in the head to knock him out.

After making sure there wasn't any more on patrol, they made their way down the row of empty cells, looking in each one, trying to find her. It was a few minutes before they realized...

"She's not here!" Octavius said, bewildered. "This is where he said she would be!"

"And this is the right place, so what did they do with her?" Curt asked in response.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be just standing here, would I!?"

Then a third voice spoke up.

"Who are you, and what are you doing down here!?"

They both spun around to find a guard, and apparently a high-ranking one, standing there, a machine gun aimed at them. And from the frightened look on his face, he wouldn't hesitate to use it.

"Where did he come from?" Curt whispered, not answering the guard.

"How should I know!?" Octavius replied, glaring at the guard.

"WHAT are you doing down here!?" the guard repeated, taking the safety off of his gun.

It was a moment before either of them responded.

"I think the question is, what is someone like you doing with firepower like that?" Curt said, backing up a step. "Who are you expecting to show up, the entire British army? I think if you were just a guard, you'd have something a little less-"

Without warning, the guard fired a round past his head, clearly meant as a warning shot.

"Alright, alright!" Curt shouted, a little shaken. "Damn, just wanted to ask you a simple question..."

"I don't want your question!" the guard said, gesturing towards an open cell with the muzzle of his gun. "Get in there."

"Follow my lead." Octavius whispered, just barely enough for Curt to hear him. They stepped inside the cell, and the guard put his gun down for a moment to shut the cell door.

Which was just enough time for Octavius to snatch him up with a tentacle and slam him facefirst into the wall. Not enough force to knock the guard unconscious, but just hard enough to hurt.

"Y-You broke my nose!" the guard whimpered as he fell to the floor.

"That was the intention." Octavius snarled as he picked him up by the front of his uniform, shoving him into the wall. "I have one question, and you _will _answer it."

"Alright." the guard said, holding his nose.

"What have you people done with Rosalie Harris? And you had better not lie to me."

"S-She escaped two nights ago." the guard stammered, backing up into the corner.

"What do you mean, she escaped?" Octavius asked, stunned now. How could she possibly escape this place?

"Exactly what I said. She escaped a few nights ago, and we haven't found her since."

"No way..." Curt whispered under his breath.

"Which means she could be anywhere right now." Octavius said, putting both of their thoughts into words. He looked down at the guard and said, "As much as I'd love to just let you walk out of here unscathed-" here, even Curt could detect the faint hint of sarcasm in his voice, "-I don't need you giving away our location. Therefore..."

He snatched the guard up by the back of his head, driving him facefirst into the wall again. This time, the impact knocked the guard unconscious.

"This just made our job a lot harder." Octavius said as they left the building. "How are we possibly going to find her now?"

"I don't know." Curt said. He didn't sound right, for some reason, and Octavius caught it.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Curt shook his head and forced a smile.

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Octavius merely shrugged and said, "If you say so." Truth be told, he knew that something was not right with Curt. Why didn't his friend want to tell him?

--

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, a man sat at his desk, his face obscured by darkness, talking to one of his agents on the phone.

"You say he just showed up at the headquarters?" he said, surprised. "How did he even find it?"

"Apparently he interrogated one of our former operatives." the agent said. "Got ahold of his name and address and went to his home."

"Did the operative tell you this?" the man asked, putting his feet up on his desk.

"No, sir. We had surveillance on the operative and we saw both him and his lizard-man friend enter the apartment. We didn't risk taking them then; not enough men to take them both down."

"Damn it!" the man said, slamming his fist on the desk. "Where are they now?"

"We don't know, sir. They disappeared."

"Find them!" the man snarled. "It's either I have them standing in front of me, or you will be! And it won't be for a good reason, either!"

With that, he slammed down the phone and put his hand to his head. Those two had been very elusive, the last few days...

--

"Alright, we need a plan." Octavius said, leaning against the wall inside Pier 56. They had just gotten back an hour ago, and were now trying to plan their next step. "We only have three days left to find her, and we're no closer to finding her than we were when we got here. If anything, we're farther away from doing so. And by now, the SVR has to be out looking for her. We need to find her before they do."

"I know, I know!" Curt said. He sounded somewhat troubled, for some reason. "I just don't have anything else! I've been trying to think of something for the last few days!"

"I know what you mean." Octavius replied. "I'm running out of ideas, myself. But we only have a short time left. We need to come up with a plan."

"I know! I can only think so fast!" Curt shouted, without meaning to.

Octavius looked over at Curt, noticing the expression on his face, and asked, "Are you alright? Something looks wrong."

"I told you, I'm fine." Curt said. "I'm just stressed out."

"Don't give me that." Octavius said, his expression severe. "I know something's not right. I just want to know."

It was several seconds before Curt replied, "I think there's something wrong with me. I... I think I'm losing control of the Lizard."

"Then you should revert back to human form before it's too late!" Octavius said, extremely worried now. If Curt lost control, there was no telling what he could do... what he would do.

"I'm trying! I've _been _trying! But I just... _I can't!" _This last sentence ended in a roar, and Curt fell to the floor, clutching his head.

"Curt! What's happening to you!?" Octavius asked frantically, taking a step forward to see what was the matter.

"Don't come any closer!" Curt growled as his face began to take on the look of the rest of his body; green, scaly, and downright terrifying. "Run, Otto! I can't control it!!"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Octavius said, taking a step back, now. "Not until I'm sure you're alright."

The reply that came from Curt could not possibly have come from the rational part of his mind. It was clearly the Lizard speaking now.

"That's too bad for you, then."

Octavius took a few steps back, prepared to bolt for the door despite saying he wouldn't, and said, "Curt, get ahold of yourself! You said you could control it-"

Suddenly, the being that was Curt pounced on Octavius, trying to pin him to the floor. Octavius threw him off and said, "Curt! Don't do this! I know you're in there!"

Curt did not respond as he took a swing at Octavius with a clawed hand, leaving 3 slash marks across his chest. Octavius winced at the assault, putting his hand to his chest to stop the bleeding, but said, "Curt, I _know _you're still in there! This isn't you! You're _not _like this!"

Curt snarled and pounced again, knocking Octavius to the floor, only to be thrown into a wall.

"Curt, I don't want to fight you!" he shouted, backing up against the wall, trying to think of a way to end this madness before it spun even more out of control. "You're my best friend! I don't want to see you get hurt!"

Once again, Curt did not respond as he picked up a chunk of brick and threw it at Octavius, aiming for his head.

Octavius was struck in the head with the brick, and he stood there for a minute, seeing stars.

"Curt, I'm not going to fight you! You need to get ahold of yourself!"

Still stunned from the impact, he was not able to defend himself as the Lizard pounced on him again, effectively pinning him to the floor as he wrapped one clawed hand around his neck, snarling, "You can't possibly hurt me now!"

Octavius tried frantically to yank the clawed hand off of his neck, but it was no use. Curt was too strong...

"Curt... I don't... want to see... anything happen to you." he managed to say as he fought for breath. "I asked... if you had complete.... control... you told me... you did..."

Curt only snarled, but didn't let go. He raised one hand, as if to deal the death blow.

Octavius could not believe what was happening... what had happened to his friend.

_He's really going to kill me! _he thought as he started to black out. _I can't let him!_

With blinding speed, Octavius whacked Curt in the chest with a tentacle as hard as he could, knocking him back and making Curt release him. He stood up, still gasping for breath, and said, "Curt, I can't hold back anymore! You have to gain control of the Lizard, or I'll have to put you down hard!"

The Lizard merely looked at him and hissed, "I'd like to see you try!" With that, he pounced again, but Octavius picked up a large steel beam and threw it at Curt, unintentionally nailing him in the head. Curt fell to the floor, unmoving. Without warning, he started to transform back, until the man lying on the floor unconscious was human again.

Octavius stood there a moment, before walking over to Curt and nudging him softly with one foot. When Curt didn't move, Octavius knelt down to check him over. He put his hand to his neck to check for a pulse, and was horrified when he found...

...there wasn't one.

"Oh my God..." Octavius said, shaking his head. "No... it can't be..." He started frantically trying to shake Curt awake, knowing it was useless, but not wanting to admit it. "Curt, wake up! My God, WAKE UP!!"

Not knowing what else to do, Octavius picked up Curt with his own two hands and ran out of the pier. Racing into the city like a man possessed, ignoring the stares of passerby, he tried frantically to find a hospital. Finding one, he ran through the front door shouting, "We need a doctor over here! Quick!"

The staff that was there were stunned by the sight they were seeing; a man, clad in a shredded, bloodstained shirt and 4 mechanical arms, whom they were pretty sure was wanted for escaping from prison, carrying an apparently unconscious man, who also looked very familiar, through their front door. Two of the doctors ran over to them, picked up Curt, and took him out of the waiting room. Another doctor walked up to Octavius and said, "Can you tell me what happened?" He said it in English; something told the doctor that these two did _not _live here.

Octavius leaned against the wall and said, "I-I think he's had a major concussion-"

"I mean what happened to _you_." the doctor said. "You've got 3 huge slash wounds across your chest, a black eye, and a giant bruise around your neck. _What _happened?"

Octavius could not respond; he was standing there, stunned.

"No, first I want to know if he's alright! I need to see him!"

The doctor shook his head and said, "I can't let you right now! And besides, you look worse off then he does-"

"HE'S BACK THERE SOMEWHERE, PROBABLY DEAD FOR ALL I KNOW!" Octavius shouted, his tentacles writhing in the air behind him, as if to accentuate his fury. "Now, you _will _let me back there, or so help me_, I'll kill you!_ I am _not _in the mood to deal with your interference!"

The doctor took a step back, thinking on the situation. Not only was the man in front of him badly injured, but he looked on the verge of a psychotic break, as well. Not a good combination.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do!" the doctor said. "After that, will you let me take a look at you? Because I'm not letting you walk out of here like _that_."

"After I know what his condition is, I'll go with you." Octavius said, in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. "I just want to know what will become of him."

The doctor did not say anything as he walked into the hospital, Octavius following behind. The people in the hallway were quick to get out of his way; they had seen the reports about two escaped criminals, and they just knew this guy was one of them. The doctor said, "Don't mind them. They've heard of your escape. Don't worry, I won't call the police yet. I'm Dr. Rinehart, by the way."

Eventually they came to a small room. Dr. Rinehart walked in and closed the door. He was in there a few minutes before walking out and saying, "He's alive. He's not conscious, but he's alive. You were right; he's got a fractured skull and a severe concussion. He'll be fine, for now."

Octavius shook his head, but was somewhat relieved to hear that he hadn't killed his friend. He leaned against the wall, now barely able to stand. Now that the situation was somewhat more stable, he found that he was severely exhausted.

Dr. Rinehart said, "Now can we take a look at you? You look like you've been through hell."

Octavius merely nodded and said, "Fine."

They walked down the hall towards an empty room, Octavius having had to put his arm over Rinehart's shoulder to walk; the fight, the whole situation, had taken more out of him than he would have liked.

Eventually they reached the room. Octavius took a seat and ripped his shredded shirt off; it was no use to him in pieces, anyways. Rinehart closed the door and said, "I need to ask you a few questions. It's just basic procedure, you understand."

Octavius did not respond, but he nodded in the affirmative.

"What is your name, age, and where are you from?" he asked as he set to finding a large bandage and some medical tape to take care of the slash marks.

"My name is Doctor Otto Octavius. I'm 26 years of age, and I currently reside in New York City."

"Only 26? That's awfully young for you to already have a doctorate, isn't it?" Rinehart asked as he set to bandaging the wound.

"I graduated early." Octavius said. "Try 4 years early. I was the youngest person in my graduating class." He sat there, wishing that Rinehart would just shut up already.

"Now can you tell me what happened?" Rinehart said as he finished up, taking a seat back in his chair.

The room was silent for a minute before Octavius said, "Me and the man I brought in... well, you probably heard the story about him being part lizard. We got into a fight. He couldn't control the Lizard in him anymore. In the course of the fight, he slashed me across the chest with his hand. His hands were like razors when he was the Lizard. I threw a steel beam at his head, hoping to try and knock him back. But it hit him too hard."

Rinehart nodded and said, "And the bruising? How did that happen?"

Octavius put his hand to his neck and said, "He got ahold of me. He... he's pretty strong when he's the Lizard."

"I also noticed that you have a bullet wound in your right shoulder." Rinehart said. "What's that from?"

"Just an incident a few days ago." Octavius said. "It wasn't that bad."

Rinehart nodded again and said, "So I see. Well, I'll be back in a minute." With that, he picked up the clipboard he had been scribbling on, and left the room. Octavius sat there, trying to make sense of the entire situation. It seemed like just this morning Curt had the Lizard completely under control. Now they were both stuck here injured, and then to find out that she wasn't even there anymore...! It seemed like everything was bound to go wrong.

He got up off the table and walked towards the door. Looking out to make sure that no one was around, he walked down the hall towards Curt's room. Listening to make sure that no one was in there, he opened the door and walked in. Curt was still unconscious, his head bandaged up.

_Looks like I'll have to finish this myself. _Octavius thought, angered by how much had happened during this whole ordeal. And only because the Russians wanted a bomb. _I'm not letting you transform back and endanger yourself again._

He walked out of the room and back towards his own. He walked in and sat back down just as Rinehart walked back in.

"There's someone who wants to talk to you." he said. "She said it was of the utmost importance."

Octavius was silent for a minute. Who could possibly know he was here?

"Fine. Send her in, whomever she is." he said.

Rinehart left the room for a minute, than walked back in with the woman who wanted to talk to him.

When Octavius saw who it was, he thought he must be losing his mind.

The woman in front of him had long brown hair, slate gray eyes, and a distinctly worried look on her face. Octavius could only stare as he realized who the woman standing in front of him was...

"It can't be... Rosie!?"

_-To be continued... _


	8. Tractus Periculosis

**Chapter Eight - Tractus Periculosis (The Course of Danger) **

Octavius could only stare at the woman standing in front of him. He didn't know how she got here, but he was certain he knew who she was.

"Rosie? H-how did you- they were holding you hostage. How did you escape?"

Dr. Rinehart said, "I'll leave you two alone for a minute." and left the room.

Rosie stood there for a moment and said, "I... I got ahold of one of their guns. I managed to keep up the act, making them believe I would use it, then I ran for the door." She walked up to him and said, "My God... what's _happened _to you?" She looked at the large bandage covering his chest, then gently put her hand up to the bruising on his neck, surprised when he winced in pain and pulled away. "What have they _done _to you?" she half-whispered, half-sobbed, completely horrified.

"They didn't do this to me." Octavius said, looking down at the floor. "It was Curt."

"Oh, my God..." Rosie said, "What made him do something like this?"

"The Lizard." he said, not looking up at her. "He lost control of the Lizard. He tried to warn me to run before he completely lost control. I didn't listen. I wanted to make sure he was alright. He tried to get me away from him because he didn't want to hurt me. And now look at the both of us. I'm sitting here, bandaged and bruised, and he's lying in a room down the hall, a fractured skull and a severe concussion. We came here to find you, but we weren't making any headway. I think it just.. got to him after a while. I shouldn't have asked him to become the Lizard. Now he's lying down the hall, a 50/50 chance for survival, because of something I asked him to do."

Rosie was silent for a moment, before taking a seat beside him and putting her arm around his shoulder, being careful not to provoke the injuries he had sustained; she also noticed the gunshot wound to his right shoulder, taking care not to bump that.

"I'm sorry." she said simply. "I can imagine how hard this must have been. You two were very courageous coming over here like this, risking your lives like that."

"We had to hijack an airplane to get here." Octavius said, finally looking back up at her. "When we get back to America, they're going to arrest me. I really have no choice but to accept it. I'm not going to live a life on the run. I've been doing it for the last 5 days, and I can barely stand it. By the time I get out, I may be a changed man. I can't do that to you. You may have to move on and forget me."

Rosie looked him in the eyes and said, "Even if you get imprisoned, I will not leave you. You are different than any man I've ever met. I will wait for you until the day you are released, even if that day never comes." She got up off the bed, put her hands on his shoulders and said, "I don't care what happens. I'll wait until the end of time because..." here, she broke off in a sob, "...Otto Octavius, I cannot, will not, live without you. I can't do it!" She couldn't help it. She threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately. This time, it was her that needed it the most. He put his arms around her and kissed her back. He didn't know what he was thinking just then. He couldn't live without her, either. She was what made him complete. She kept him sane. He knew this as much as he'd ever known anything.

Just then, Rinehart walked back in the room and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but the SVR are here."

Octavius pulled away and said, "That does it. They have interfered in our lives for the last time." He looked at Rosie and said, "I want you to stay here. I'm going to go deal with them."

Rosie shook her head and said, "But you're already seriously injured! There's no way-"

"Rosie, I have to do this." Octavius said, cutting her off and looking into her eyes. "Nothing's going to happen. I promise." With that, he put his black trenchcoat back on, walked out the door and into the lobby. Sure enough, there were at least 30 agents of the SVR standing there.

A masked man, who was evidently the leader of the entire operation stepped forward and said, "Well, well. What have we here?" he snickered and said, "I expected to find the woman here. But I never expected to find you here, Octavius. At least, not until you showed up to infiltrate our H.Q and injure a few of my good friends in your little search. I wonder, have you considered my proposal?" His voice sounded familiar, but Octavius couldn't quite place it.

"You can take your proposal and shove it in the face of someone who cares." Octavius snarled, taking a step forward. "My answer is still no."

"Ooh, feisty, are we, doc?" the leader said. "I may have to fix that."

"I'd like to see you try." Octavius said, on the defensive. "Why couldn't you have simply asked for my help, instead of going through all this!? And who _are _you, anyways?"

"Just ask?" the leader said. "Where's the fun in that? I figured this was much more interesting." Here, he put his hand to the top of the mask he was wearing and said, "And as to the question of who I am..." here, he ripped off the mask and said, "I do believe we've met!"

Octavius got his first good look at the man behind the operation. He could not believe what he was seeing.

"Dmitri Smerdyakov!?" he said incredulously. "The convict from the Moscow prison!? How can that be!?"

Smerdyakov could not help but laugh at his reaction as he said, "Actually, that was just a cover-up. I am no convict. However, I do insist that you do not call me by my real name." Suddenly, his face transformed, until it was nothing but a smooth white mask, showing no expression but the coldness of his eyes. "For now, you can call me The Chameleon!"

Octavius stood there a moment more before saying, "But I don't understand! You helped me break out of that prison! Why do that if you're just going to kill me, anyways?"

"Well, I suppose by now you have realized that I'm not actually the true mastermind behind the larger plan." The Chameleon said, leaning against the wall. "Just this smaller phase." He pulled out a 9mm pistol and loaded it up. "But I have been asked to bring you to the true leader of this operation. He told me either to bring you there, alive, or to kill you with this shiny new handgun he gave me last night. What I really wanted was a revolver, but I guess this works, too. It's got a lot of kick to it, wouldn't you say?"

"I wouldn't know." Octavius snarled, taking a step forward. "I'm not a murderer like you."

"I'm insulted." The Chameleon said with mock indignation. "'Murderer' is such a harsh term to use. I prefer the term 'contract killer', myself. Or you can call me a hitman. Whichever sounds better to you."

"Enough small talk!" Octavius said. "I'm giving you 3 seconds to get out of my face, or the only person who will die today will be you."

"You're not scaring me, doc." The Chameleon said, fingering the handgun. "This gun has enough power to have you flat on your back dead in a matter of seconds. You can't reach me from where you're standing."

Suddenly, a third person spoke up.

"No, but I can."

Both Octavius and the Chameleon turned towards the source of the voice.

It was Curt, standing in the doorway to the lobby, a handgun clutched awkwardly in his left hand.

"Curt, no!" Octavius said frantically. "You're not in any shape to fight him!"

"Maybe not..." Curt said, "...but I won't let him get away. He's responsible for this whole ordeal."

The Chameleon laughed and said, "You might want to get him out of here, doc. I think he might be a little delirious."

"Maybe so..." Curt growled, cocking the hammer, "...but that's not going to stop me from doing this."

The gunshot echoed through the room, a small explosion making everyone in the room drop to the floor in fright. When the last echoes died away, Octavius looked up to find the Chameleon, still standing upright, clutching his chest, a big red spot forming on his white dress shirt.

"Y-You shot me..." he stammered weakly, before falling to the floor.

The SVR agents took this as their cue, and stood up, preparing to fire. Curt ran down the hall, the doors slamming shut behind him. A moment later, he re-emerged from behind the doors.

But now, he was The Lizard.

"I'll take you all on." he hissed, cracking his knuckles and glaring at the entire population of the room, with the sole exception of Octavius, of course.

The room was silent, before one of the agents shouted, "DRILL HIM! TAKE HIM DOWN!"

But Curt was not deterred. He jumped right into the fray, tearing through anyone he could find. He seemed to have lost his mind since the incident in the pier.

Soon enough, Octavius charged forward, with the fury of a man who had been stretched to the breaking point in the last week, and who just got the chance to break. He picked up one agent, threw him into another, grabbed two of them and cracked their heads together. This wasn't a fight, he thought in the midst of it. It was hell unleashed.

He saw a few agents who had Curt backed up against the wall. Using a tentacle, he threw them all aside, ran up to Curt and said, "Why are you doing this!?"

"I already hurt you once." Curt said. "I won't let these monsters do the same."

He jumped back into the melee, looking for anyone to demolish. Octavius had not realized just how much his friend had been pushed towards the edge this week. Now he'd gone over it, and there was simply no stopping him.

But before either of them knew it, the fight had ended. All of the agents were either unconscious or had run for their lives. In the middle of it stood Curt, blood-spattered and exhausted, and no longer The Lizard. He looked like hell, but he also looked utterly satisfied.

"I daresay I needed that." Curt said, walking over to one of the chairs and taking a seat. "I don't think I could bring back the Lizard now even if I wanted to."

Octavius stood there a minute before saying, "How are you even conscious? They only gave you a 50/50 chance for survival. You should be in a coma right now."

"That's the thing about certain lizards." Curt said, a grin on his face. "Some of them recover quickly from injuries. I suppose the same has happened to me."

"You know, you're going to be in a world of trouble when we get back to America." Octavius said, taking a seat beside him. "You shot down a man in cold blood. They'll charge you with murder for that."

"Not if I plead temporary insanity." Curt said, cocking his eyebrow. "Didn't they say I had a fractured skull and a severe concussion? That, combined with my Lizard incident, I don't think they'll be able to do anything."

"Well, we'll find out when we get back, then."

The two were silent for a moment, before Octavius said, "I'll be right back." He walked through the doors leading to the E.R and came out a minute later, Rosie following behind.

Curt looked at her for a second, before a wide smile crossed his face and he said, "No way! You're back!" He walked up to the two and said to Rosie, "Do you have any idea what we've been doing to find you? I can't believe you're back!" He looked over at Octavius and said, "Where'd you find her?"

"I didn't find her." Octavius said, a half-smirk on his face. "She found me. I was in the back getting checked out, and she walked in." He turned to look at Rosie. "How _did _you know I was here, anyways?"

"I saw you running down the street. I knew it was you, and I followed you here." she said, looking down at the floor. "I missed you... I wasn't sure what was to become of either of us... but I never suspected in my wildest dreams you'd come here to track me down."

"Well, as it turns out, they suspected that I would." Octavius said, a scowl crossing his face. "They just didn't know who they were truly dealing with."

The room was silent until Octavius said, "We had better get out of here before the cops show up. If we're to make it back to America, they can not catch us. You two head out first." he said, heading towards a phone. "I have a call to make."

Rosie looked over at Curt, and he nodded.

"Let's just get out of here." He looked over at Octavius and said, "We'll be behind the building when you come out."

"I'll remember that." Octavius said, picking it up and dialing a number.

"Hello, can you get me the number for a police station in New York?"

--

_3:07 pm, New York City, Precinct 92..._

Capt. Stacy had just about had it with the case he was working. He hadn't got word from Interpol in a few days as to the whereabouts of the two fugitive scientists he had been trying to find.

So when the phone on his desk rang, he picked it up, expecting it to be them.

"Precinct 92, Capt. Stacy speaking."

He was not prepared for what he was about to hear on the other end.

"This is Otto Octavius. I hear you've been looking for me?"

Capt. Stacy almost dropped the phone when he heard that, but he caught it and screamed, "Yes, I've been looking for you! What in blue blazes do you think you are doing!? Do you know how much trouble you two are in when you get back!?"

"I have some idea." Octavius said, leaning against the counter in the E.R. "I figured maybe you'd like to know just why I am in this frozen city in the first place."

"That would be appreciated!" Capt. Stacy shouted, trying not to blow a gasket.

"I've been looking for my fiancee." he said, switching the phone to his other ear. The capt. was loud when he yelled. "You see, she was abducted about a week ago by the SVR."

"The Russian Intelligence Service?" Capt. Stacy said, the anger suddenly dissipated. "What did they want her for?"

"It's not her they wanted." Octavius said, shaking his head. "It was me. They told me they wanted me to build them a bomb using radioactive materials. An atomic bomb. I told them I wouldn't, and they ran off with her. They threatened to kill her within a week if I did not build them a bomb. I wasn't going to build a superweapon, and I wasn't going to let them kill her."

At this, Capt. Stacy was thunderstruck. He had heard rumors of the SVR's more shady practices, but he had never thought those rumors to be true!

"Well, why didn't you just let us handle it?"

"They said if the police were involved, they'd kill her as soon as they found out. I couldn't let that happen."

"And Connors?" Capt. Stacy said. "What does he have to do with this?"

"He was helping me try and find her." Octavius replied. "I figured I could use a little backup if I was to find her within a week."

Capt. Stacy put his hand to his forehead, astounded by what he had just heard. Here he had been thinking that they were just out to cause trouble, and then he heard about this...

"I want to talk to you about this when you get back." The Capt. said. "You... _are _coming back, right?"

"Of course." Octavius said. "I'm not staying here. My home is in New York. I'll talk to you when we get back."

He hung up the phone and prepared to walk out of the building, when he heard a low moan. He looked around and saw that it was coming from Smerdyakov.

"Please..." he stammered, trying to sit up. "Just kill me now... if the SVR discovers... how I failed... they'll do worse to me... than you can imagine..."

"Right now, I want nothing more than to kill you." Octavius growled, taking a step forward. "But I think I'll just let them have their way with you. It's a fate worse than death."

At that, Smerdyakov fell silent, contemplating the horror he would be subjected to.

"But you can give them a message for me..." he continued, leaning down and glaring at Smerdyakov in much the same way he had right before ending the fight with Osborn, "...tell them that if they try anything like that to me again, there will be hell to pay. Tell them that I will find the leader of this operation and that when I do, no amount of protection will hold me back. I'm coming for him. And you tell them..." here, he fell silent, trying to figure out a way to word his next statement, "...you tell them that the name of Doctor Octopus is one to be feared. If they remember this, it may save them a lot of trouble in the future."

With that, he stood up and walked out the door and around the back, where Curt and Rosie were waiting for him. The three of them started down the street, silently. They really didn't have much to say, then. Finally, it was Octavius who broke the silence to ask the question they had all been wondering...

"So, any ideas about how to get home?"

_-To be continued..._

_--_

_(A/N: Again, say nothing about my LAME romantic scene. I needed a moment with a lot of feeling, or whatever you want to call it. Also, ignore my stupid 'climactic' scene, because I know it sucked. I suck at writing climaxes. _

_Only 2 more chapters to go. Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better..._

_-The Inimitable Enigma Cypher_


	9. The Debriefing

**Chapter Nine – The Debriefing**

_4:38 am, back in New York City…_

By this time, they had just arrived back in the city. They had found someone willing to give them a ride back in their aircraft, which didn't take much effort. They were expected to meet Capt. Stacy here for a debriefing on their entire situation, but he hadn't shown up yet.

"I never thought I'd actually be glad to see this city." Octavius mumbled, half-asleep. He had fallen asleep on the ride back, his head resting on Rosie's shoulder. Now that he knew she was safe, he was awfully tired.

"What about the say you first came to America?" Rosie asked, looking over at him.

"That doesn't count." He replied. "I didn't know what this city was like then. I do now."

"Alright, I'll give you that." She said, a small smile on her face.

It was then that Capt. Stacy showed up and said, "Well, looks like you two kept good on your word. I was afraid that you two had decided to make a run for it."

"We're not criminals, captain." Curt said, an awkward smile on his face. "We were just trying to save an innocent life. We have no real reason to run."

"True enough." The capt. said. "I just want to talk to the two of you, to figure out what was really going on."

"Can it wait until morning?" Octavius said, looking at him. "I'm bound to fall asleep halfway through the…" here, he broke off in a yawn, "…through the questioning."

"I'm afraid not." Capt. Stacy said apologetically. "I'd love to be at home asleep, myself. But there are things that need to be done."

"Then at least get me a cup of coffee. Heavily caffeinated."

"Now _that, _I can do."

--

_30 minutes later…_

"Alright, let's start at the beginning." Capt. Stacy said, sitting across the table from Octavius, who, even with a cup of coffee in hand, still looked exhausted. "Right when the situation started."

"It started about a week and a half ago." He began, taking a sip of his coffee, actuators writhing in the air behind him, albeit sluggishly, as if to accentuate their master's current state of being. "I was walking down the street, when a car pulled up beside me. Two of their agents got out and threw me in the back with them. They brought me to their headquarters with a request: they wanted me to build them an atomic bomb. I refused, and then I escaped."

"It was a good idea to refuse." Capt. Stacy said, writing down everything he was being told.

"I had no desire to become an enemy of this country." Octavius replied, closing his eyes, trying to remember what happened next. "Anyways, two days later, they broke into my home and gave their ultimatum, which was that I had a week to give them my word that I would build them a bomb, before leaving, taking Rosie with them. Then…" here, he broke off in a yawn, "…then I called my friend Connors to explain the situation. We agreed that the best course of action would be to go find her ourselves…" here, another yawn, "…so they would never know that someone was taking action against them until it was too late."

"I see. And was this when you tore apart their headquarters?"

"Yes. We assumed they would he holding her there. But by the time we got there, she was being transported to Moscow. That's when we hijacked an airplane to fly over there. When we got there, we went to the capitol building to find the location of their headquarters. They had already removed the file when we got there. We checked into a motel for the night, but we were arrested the next morning. We escaped their prison, but I was shot in the escape." Here, he gestured towards his still-bandaged right shoulder. "I had fallen unconscious, and Curt found us a building to hide in for the night. The next day, we went to the apartment of one of their ex-operatives and questioned him about the location of the headquarters. That night we went to find her, only to find that she had escaped."

"Oh, she did?" the capt. asked, a little surprised.

"Yes. From what she said, she got ahold of one of their pistols and used it to negotiate her way out of the building. That was the night that Curt lost control of his lizard alter-ego. He attacked me, and I knocked him out in the course of the fight. I brought him to a hospital, and while their doctors were checking me out, she showed up, having followed me there. Shortly after, about 20 or so agents of the SVR arrived to look for her. Me and curt dispatched them quickly, with no casualties." He lad left out the fact that Curt had shot Smerdyakov; what good would it do to bring that up? Besides, he had not been killed by the gunshot wound, so why bother with it?

"And that's it?" Capt. Stacy said, finishing his notes.

"Yes, that's it." Octavius said, finishing his coffee.

"I have to admit, the situation you've just described to me is a lot different than the way I imagined it." The capt. said.

"Did you think we were just out to cause trouble, perhaps?"

"Well, actually… yes." Capt. Stacy said, an embarrassed half-smile on his face.

"Now why would I do something like this just to cause trouble?" Octavius asked, an odd expression on his face. "I am one of the world's most prominent scientists. Do you really think I would just throw away my entire career for the sake of causing trouble?"

"Good point." The capt. said, that half-smile still on his face.

"Can I go home now?" Octavius said, yawning. "I've gotten maybe 16 hours of sleep in the last 6 days,"

"Go ahead." Capt. Stacy said, nodding. He knew that Octavius wasn't going to make a run for it; he had his entire career ahead of him, and from what the captain saw, he really didn't want to lose it. "I'll call if I need to talk to you again."

Octavius did not respond as he stumbled from the room and looked over at Rosie.

"Let's go home. I could use some sleep right now."

"I can see that." Rosie said as she smiled at him, the two of them walking out into the moonlight and hailing a taxi.

When they got home, Rosie unlocked the door, as apparently Octavius had lost his key somewhere in Moscow.

"We'll have to get a new one made." She said as they entered the building.

"Never thought I'd see this place again." Octavius said as he dragged himself upstairs and into his bedroom, Rosie following behind.

"Now why would you think something like that?" she asked, only to find that he was already asleep, and had probably been so as soon as he hit the bed.

She merely smiled and sat on the edge of the bed, pushing his hair out of his face. Truth be told, she had the same thought in mind during her lockup in the SVR headquarters. But she had not counted on him coming over there to get her. She could not imagine what had kept him going over the last week. He was banged-up, bruised, and exhausted beyond all reason, but he had risked his life to save her. He knew going into this situation what it could entail, and yet he had done it anyways. He could have been killed over there, and yet he had done everything possible to bring her back.

She turned the light off and crawled into bed with him, pulling the covers over both if them, and soon she was asleep as well.

--

_11:21 am, the next day…_

Rosie was the first one up the next morning. She walked into the kitchen to make some tea, and then headed into the living room to find Curt sitting on the couch, reading that day's paper.

"Hey, Curt." She said as she walked into the room. "What are you doing here so early?"

He looked up from his paper , set it down and said, "Oh, good morning. Hope you slept well."

"I feel pretty good, actually." She said, stretching her arms out.

"That's good." Curt said, a small smile on his face. "I'm here because Capt. Stacy wants both me and Otto to go down to the station in a bit. Don't know why, he didn't say."

"Well, Otto's still asleep right now." Rosie said, but even as she did, Octavius walked into the room. She shrugged as if to say, _O.K, I stand corrected._

"No, I'm not, actually." He said as he leaned against the doorframe, a cup of tea in hand. "But I wish I was. 7 hours is not enough sleep, particularly after the events of the last week."

"I can see that." Curt said, looking at him, concerned. "You look like hell. Maybe you should go back to bed."

"I'll be fine." Octavius said as he walked over to the window, yanking the curtains shut. "We had probably better head down there to see what he wants."

Curt nodded his agreement and walked out of the room.

"I'll be back in a few hours." Octavius said, looking at Rosie. "If I won't, I'll have someone tell you otherwise.

With that, he walked from the room, leaving Rosie behind, wondering what was to become of the both of them…

--

_20 minutes later, Precinct 92…_

"Alright, let me tell you just what you two are facing." Capt. Stacy said, pacing behind his desk, Octavius and Curt taking up the chairs in front of it. "Formally, you two are guilty of destruction of property, grand theft for the hijacked aircraft, breaking and entering, escaping from prison, numerous counts of assault, and one attempted murder." At this last statement, he looked over at Curt, who winced. "Fortunately for you, the man you shot survived that incident, although his current whereabouts are unknown. If he had not, you'd be facing a hard sentence."

"I know, I know." Curt said, looking down at the floor, his hand to his head,

"But taking into consideration your Lizard alter-ego and your apparent head injury…" the capt. continued, "…we could have counted that as temporary insanity. If we had intended on doing anything about it. We're going to drop that charge on the grounds that it was self-defense and that he would have killed you otherwise."

Here, he turned to Octavius.

"And

Here, he turned to Octavius.

"And_ you,_ being the master planner behind this incident, could be facing worse than he was. Connors would have to be considered the accomplice."

"You can't blame me for wanting to protect what is mine!" Octavius shouted, standing up and glaring at him. "What else was I supposed to do!? If I had gotten you people involved, she would be dead now, instead of safe back in New York, where she belongs!"

"Easy, Doctor!" Capt. Stacy said, putting both hands up to say he wasn't finished. "Just listen to me for a second."

Octavius sat back down, but the scowl was still there.

"What I was going to say…" Capt. Stacy said, taking a seat in his own chair, "…was that you could have been facing a lot worse. But we did a little background research into the SVR and discovered many of their more controversial methods of operation. We know how they work, now. We know there's nothing else you could have done. As it turns out, they had been spying on us, too." Here, he pulled out a small device from his desk drawer and threw it to Octavius, who caught it and looked it over.

"It's a listening device." Octavius said, turning it over and taking a closer look, before throwing it back to Capt. Stacy. "A wiretap, for picking up phone conversations."

"I know." Capt. S said. "We found it on the outside phone line this morning. Had it removed at once. But the point I've been trying to get to is that we have discerned that there was really nothing else you could have done to get her back. Even taking into account the criminal conduct involved here, we've decided not to press charges for the incident."

At that, both Octavius and Curt were stunned speechless.

"We're going to pretend this never happened..." The capt. continued. "…on the grounds that none of this fiasco is leaked to the press. We're keeping this entire situation secret from the public while we try to shut the SVR down for good. Do you understand?"

"Of course." Octavius said, still stunned. "But can you get away with that?"

The room was silent before Capt. Stacy gave his response. When he did, it was the last thing Octavius expected to hear.

"Doctor Octavius, I'm one of the most high-ranking police captains in this city." Capt. S said, a sly grin on his face. "My precinct was the only one to know about this incident, and my subordinates have been sworn to secrecy. How can I possibly charge you for an incident that only I know ever happened in the first place?"

Once again, Octavius found himself unable to speak as he looked over at curt, who looked just as surprised as he did.

"You two can go now." Capt. Stacy said as he stood up and walked towards the door. "And again, speak of this to nobody. Tell your lady friend this, too." He said, looking over at Octavius. "This conversation never happened." And with that, He left the station.

They both stood there for a minute before walking out of the station. They didn't talk much, until Curt broke the silence.

"What was that you were saying a few days ago about there being advantages to fame? I think that's why the captain let us off so easy."

"You think so?" Octavius responded, putting his sunglasses on. "Then I was right. But there _are _disadvantages, as we found out the hard way."

"Yeah, every lunatic goes looking for you." Curt said, nodding. "I don't think they'll try _that _again, though."

"I would be very surprised if they did, after what we did to them." Octavius said, looking up at the cloudy sky. "I'm just surprised that he did let us off. How many buildings did we destroy looking for her? How many people did we injure? And you with your pistol, when you tried to kill the Chameleon… I didn't think lizards used guns."

At that, Curt couldn't help but crack a smile.

"I've never seen an octopus wear sunglasses, either. But hey, we both buck tradition, then."

Octavius rolled his eyes, but the mischievous glint in his eyes was unmistakable.

"I don't think Doctor Octopus will be coming back for a while." He said as he fumbled in his pocket for something, "I'd like to stay out of sight for a while, personally."

"I know exactly what you mean." Curt replied, nodding.

"I don't know about you, but I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning." Octavius said, looking over at Curt. "And I think that diner we used to go to is only a short distance from here."

"You read my mind." Curt said. "But I'm broke."

"I'm not. I'll buy." Octavius said, a wolfish smirk crossing his face as he pulled out a roll of money. "I don't think Smerdyakov will be missing this."

"You didn't!" Curt said, wide-eyed, but the smirk on his friend's face gave it away. He doubled over laughing, and when he collected himself he said, "Apparently it's a good thing that Octopus isn't coming back. I think he got to your head."

"Probably." Octavius replied, but the smirk was still there. "But it was fun while it lasted. It's not something I'd like to be for the rest of my life, though."

"Right, it would be a hard life, with the police on your trail all the time. And then there's always the chance that your life could be ended at any time… definitely not a good way to go." Curt replied as they walked into the diner.

"Which is why he's not coming back." Octavius finished as they walked up to the counter.

"Hey, look who showed up!" the man at the counter said. "It's the mad doctors! Long time, no see!"

"Hello yourself." Curt said as he leaned against the counter. "We've been kind of busy lately. But we're here now. You got our usual table open?"

"Of course!" the man said as he led them over to it. The two of them took a seat and the man walked away.

"O.K, I have to ask, because it's going to drive me nuts…" Curt said, looking down at his menu, "…where in the world did the name 'Doctor Octopus' come from?"

"I have Osborn to blame for that." Octavius said, shaking his head. "That's what he called me when he first saw the actuators."

"Alright, thanks for clearing that up for me." Curt said as he decided what to order and closed his menu, leaning back in his chair.

"Now I have a question of my own…" Octavius said, drumming his fingers on the table, "… about the Lizard. Do you think it is at all possible to bring it back?"

"No, I don't think so." Curt said, thinking on it. "I think that incident in the ER has banished him to the darkness."

"That's good. I don't want to fight you again." Octavius said, fidgeting with a pencil he found in his pocket. "I had enough of that back at Pier 56."

"I'm really sorry for that." Curt said, looking regretful. "I hope I didn't hurt you too bad. I tried to control it as best I could. The scary part is that I _knew _what I was doing the whole time, but the Lizard had almost-complete control. I had only enough to hold back most of the Lizard's natural strength. Otherwise, it would have killed you."

At that revelation, Octavius could not respond. He had no idea how the Lizard had truly affected his friend. It must have been hell for him.

"I have to tell you this now, in case anything happens," Curt said, keeping his voice low, an unusually severe tone to it, "…if I become the Lizard again, do not hold back. If it happens…" here, he closed his eyes tightly, steeling himself for what he was about to say, "…I want you to kill me. I _can't _let the Lizard hurt anyone again."

"Curt, I couldn't do that!" Octavius said, shocked. "You _know _I couldn't!"

"You must! I can't live like that!" Curt said, trying to keep his voice down. It nearly broke me, when I fought you! I can't let it happen again!" He slammed his fist on the table and said, "I _can't!_ I don't want to be responsible for taking a human life, even if it was the Lizard that did it! Promise me! Promise me you will do me this one favor!"

There was a heavy silence between them until Octavius said, "I'll do it. But let's hope that day never comes."

"Thank you." Curt said as he put his hand to his face. "I just want to make sure the Lizard is destroyed if he comes back out."

Here, the waiter came back to take their orders. After he walked away, Curt said, "I didn't mean to get all emotional there. But the thought of becoming the Lizard scares me."

"I can see how it would."

The two of them sat there a while longer, talking about the previous week and how it could have affected them both. In the end, they both agreed on one thing: that they never wanted it, or anything like it, to happen again.

But Octavius knew one thing for certain.

If anything like it ever happened again…

…that would be the day that Doctor Octopus returned to wreak hell on those who threatened him. Or anyone close to him.

--

"_With great power comes the responsibility to use it against those who threaten you."_


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_In the end, the NYPD's investigation of the SVR, which took several weeks, discovered the original files used in their plot to be the first country to possess an atomic bomb. They had found out that, had Rosie not escaped that night, they were going to use her as an example of the futility of standing against them, and kill her anyways. Naturally, that did __**not **__go over well with Octavius when he heard that._

_Upon close inspection of the files, the SVR was not able to discover the mastermind behind the plan. The SVR was dismembered, and the case was closed._

_Curt had discovered a way to permanently banish his Lizard persona, and promptly tested it on himself. It went off without a hitch._

_But, once again, there was one important matter… still incomplete._

_--_

It was their big day. The day that Octavius and Rosie were to be wed. Everything was perfect. Rosie was presently over at the Connors' house, where Curt's wife, Martha, was helping her with a few last-minute details. They were talking quite a bit, too.

"What's on your mind, dear? Martha asked as she sat on the couch, a cup of tea in hand, watching Rosie pace in front of the window.

"I'm just nervous, is all." She said as she stopped her pacing. "I mean, I know he's the right man for me, but… oh, I don't know. I'm just nervous, as I said."

"Everyone usually is, on their wedding day." Martha said as she stood up and walked over to Rosie, putting one hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "You've got nothing to worry about."

"I know." Rosie said, managing to smile. "Thanks."

"Besides…" Martha said, looking out over the city, "I'd hate to think of how nervous your soon-to-be husband is right now…"

--

Meanwhile a few blocks away, Curt was pacing in front of the door of Octavius' laboratory, wondering if he was _ever _going to come out. Octavius had shut himself in there a few hours ago, and hadn't come out.

Finally, Curt walked in to find Octavius asleep at his desk, clad in his lab coat, a pencil in hand. His hair was a complete mess, and there was clearly a five o'clock shadow across his face.

"Are you _kidding _me!?" Curt yelped at the sight. "You're asleep right now? On the day of your own wedding!?"

At that, Octavius looked up at Curt blearily.

"Did I really fall asleep?"

"Yes, you did." Curt said, shaking his head, a half-smile on his face. "Will you get up, change into your tux and shave? It's _not _going to go over well with Rosie if you're wearing your lab coat at the altar. She finds your scientist personality charming, but not _that _much."

"I know, I know…" Octavius said as he stood up and walked towards the stairs. "I was just up most lf last night, unable to sleep." He walked into his bedroom and came out 20 minutes later in the white tuxedo that he had purchased for the occasion.

"Would it sound bad to say that I'm trying not to panic right now?" Octavius said, running a hand through his hair, nervously. "This is one of the biggest days of my life."

"You should have seen me on the day of my own wedding." Curt said, a smile on his face. "I nearly blacked out at the altar."

"I don't feel _that_ panicked, fortunately." Octavius said as he walked over to his desk, locking the reactor plans he had been working on in his desk drawer.

"My God, you are hopeless!" Curt laughed as he noticed that Octavius had forgotten to put on the jacket to his tux. "You're forgetting something, genius."

"I am?" Octavius asked, before looking down and noticing what Curt already had. He growled and walked back into his room, coming back out with it on.

"And now your bowtie is crooked!" Curt said, cracking up now.

Octavius looked in the mirror, adjusted it, and said, "There. Anything else wrong?"

"No, you're looking good now." Curt said. "I've never seen you that absent-minded before."

"Well, I am rather nervous right now…" Octavius said, leaning against his desk.

Curt shook his head and walked over to his friend, grabbing him by the shoulder and saying, "You're going to be fine. Look at me."

Octavius looked at him, eyebrow cocked.

"You can handle this." Curt said. "You are Otto Octavius. For that reason alone, you can handle anything. I've seen how you handle big situations. You're going to be fine."

"If you say so." Octavius said, pushing Curt's hand from his shoulder.

"Glad to see you agree with me." Curt said as he took a step back and looked at his watch.

"We're going to be late!"

"Well, then we had better get going then!" Octavius said as he walked for the door, Curt following behind. He knew Curt was right; he could handle this. But this was one of the biggest days of his life, after all.

They walked out to the car that was waiting to take them to the site of the wedding. And once again, Octavius couldn't help but feel that this was truly the first day of the rest of his life…

_-Finis_

_--_

_A/N: Ha, you expected me to write the wedding itself? Sorry, I'm not that talented. XD But here it is, the end of the story. _

_I just want to cry now. Seriously. _

_Anyways, expect a Part 3, because my friends, it is as inevitable as the rising sun in the red sky. XD_

_-The Inimitable Enigma Cypher_


End file.
